Survivors
by AnimeWolfGirl9
Summary: Surviving with a man she barely knew was the last thing that Ellie thought she would be doing, as well as being hunted down by the US military, Infected, and other survivors. Outside of the quarantine zone, Ellie now has to not only trust Joel, but also trust herself in a harsh world where she must learn to survive.
1. Ready to Go

Quick note before we start:

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters/places/anything mentioned from the Last of Us or anything else and everything belongs to its respective owners.**

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Chapter 1: Ready to Go

Packing the little that she had wasn't hard; it never had been. Owning little belongings made that step easy. The next step would be harder.

Picking up an unopened, crinkled envelope, she stared at the only thing on the outside – _Ellie_- before shoving it into the backpack with the rest of her things.

Quickly glancing around to see if she had forgotten anything, her eyes settled on something. She walked over and picked it up off the table, taking in the small switchblade.

_Might come in handy,_ she thought as she placed it into the backpack and zipped up the pockets.

"Right, time to get going," Ellie mumbled, slinging the black backpack over her shoulders and starting to walk out the door.

Halfway through the door she glimpsed something and stopped, turning around and seeing a dark colored jacket. She quickly grabbed that as well and glanced once around the room before finally walking out of the house.

Ellie knew that outside of the house was usually worse than the inside, considering the streets were usually crowded with people and US military alike. This time though, the streets were oddly silent and clear, giving her a strange feeling that wanted to make her shiver.

Frowning a bit, Ellie looked around for a moment before spotting a man. She walked over to him, slighting annoyed.

"Ready to go?" the man asked, glancing at her.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she mumbled, glaring at the ground.

They started walking towards the edge of the quarantine zone, giving Ellie some time to think as she occasionally glanced at the man.

With an irritated sigh that made the man glance back at her, she started to run through the events of what had happened a few minutes ago. This _stranger_ had come into the house she had been temporarily staying in, telling her she had to leave with him and to get packed up quickly.

Why she was listening to him, she had no idea, especially since she usually didn't take tips from anyone lightly. The only thing that she had to go off of was that he seemed somewhat familiar. Ellie shook her head, trying to remember where she had seen him before; maybe in the marketplace? But no, she couldn't remember correctly and that was starting to irk her.

Glancing at the man again, she figured that she should at least try and figure out where they were going, and that introductions might be the best place to start.

"What's your name?" she asked, trying to start on the right foot. The man glanced back at her with an almost questioning look in his eyes.

"Joel," the man said finally, not seeming interested to stop and chat.

Ellie took a deep breath and let it out, trying to think if she knew anyone with the same name. She would have remembered if so.

"And my name is-" she started to say but was cut off by the man's voice.

"Ellie," he finished, making her feel mad about being interrupted.

"And _how_ do you know my name?" she asked, narrowing her eyes while starting to reach for the pocket containing her switchblade.

_At least if he's going to try something, I can use that,_ the thought wasn't pleasant, but she wanted to stay alive. If 'Joel' was going to be a threat, it just had to happen that way.

"I'm supposed to get you to the Fireflies," Joel explained, making her reach for the switchblade stop in surprise.

Ellie remembered hearing about the small group of rebels numerous times over the years she had been alive. Apparently they were fighting against the US military, but she didn't know for what reason.

"And why do you want to take me there?" she asked, feeling a bit more relaxed around him. She heard him sigh, heavy with some emotion she could not place.

"Let's just say an old friend wanted me to get you there," Joel answered, making her curious.

Someone obviously knew a lot about her, making her scan her mind for anyone that she could think of. No one crossed her thoughts.

"And by an old friend you mean-" she started to ask, but a rough shove to behind some crates and a "Shh!" from Joel made her stop. Hitting her hands on the pavement hurt, making her instantly turn angry at the man again when blood started to leek from them.

"What the-" she almost yelled at him, but a glare and another retort made her mouth shut.

"Be quiet!" he ordered harshly, making her keep herself hidden.

She glared back at him, wondering what he was making a fuss about. She was about to answer his order in a not-so-nice way, but then she heard what he was hiding them from: heavy footsteps, accompanied by voices and some harsh laughter coming from a few feet away.

Glancing out from behind the stack of crates, she saw three guards wandering towards the crates, talking casually.

"Why are we hiding from them?" Ellie whispered, angry that what they were doing seemed to be pointless, "They know we-"

"We are near the edge of the quarantine zone and definitely do _not_ want to get caught now," Joel whispered quickly, making a wave of confusion mix in with her anger.

"And why are we-?" she was going to add 'hiding' when her eyes widened, realizing where he was going with this, "You're sneaking me out…"

"Yes, and that is why I need you to _be quiet_," he whispered as the guards came closer.

Ellie opened her mouth in a retort, but stopped when the voices came closer.

"Thought I heard something," one of the guard's voices said, much nearer to the crates now.

She heard footsteps coming closer to the crates, presumably the other guards coming with their 'friend'.

"It's just your imagination, Phil," another guard's voice this time, answering the first, "nothing ever happens on the first night of the job."

Ellie glanced over at Joel to see him mumble something under his breath. A moment later she realized he had said "Something's about to happen."

Holding her breath, she wondered what he meant, but then thought about them sneaking out as the answer.

"Come on, we need to go report that the area's clean," the third guard stated impatiently.

"I could have sworn…" the first guard, Phil, started in confusion as Ellie saw the other two guards start to walk away.

"You can check again Phil, but we're heading back," one of the other guards yelled over his shoulder.

The guard named Phil started to walk away, and Ellie let out the breath she had been holding, which was probably a mistake by the look that Joel gave her next.

Phil turned back, apparently hearing her breath, and started to walk towards the crates.

_Not good,_ she thought as she glanced over at Joel, knowing he was thinking the same thing.

'What now?' she mouthed to him, but he just shook his head, making her slightly confused and angry.

_So after all this work, he's just going to let us get caught?_ She thought, annoyed; the sting in her hands reminding her of the now-wasted effort.

At her glare, Joel held his hand up and silently started to creep around the side of the crates. Ellie started to back more into the crated area, trying to find a place to hide. She swore under her breath when she hit the back of another crate loudly.

This seemed to startle the guard for a moment before he leaned forward and caught sight of her. Ellie sat there for a moment, a somewhat sheepish feeling at getting caught coursing through her.

"Um… hi?" she said, not sure what to do next.

The guard opened his mouth to shout to his now long gone companions, but never got the chance to when Joel seemingly appeared behind him out of nowhere.

Wrapping his arm around the guard's neck tightly, Ellie watched as the guard's breath was cut off for a few moments before his body went limp. Joel then laid the guard's body on the ground.

Wide-eyed and somewhat gawking, Ellie just kept staring between Joel and the guard's body on the ground.

"What-" Ellie started to say after a moment as she stared at Joel, motioning to the body on the ground.

"Don't worry, he's not dead, just unconscious," Joel stated simply, making some of her shock go away.

"Won't they know we were here now?" Ellie asked after a moment, trying to take calming breaths.

"Yes, and that's why we should get out of here," Joel said as he started to walk away from the crates and towards the gates that held them in to the quarantine zones.

Ellie stood in the same spot for a moment, having a hard time processing the recent events before she quickly caught up to Joel, a million questions forming in her head.

"They'll be after us," she stated quickly, trying to get him to see the reality of the situation.

"Not for a while," Joel answered as they reached the gates, "Most of the guards don't believe newbies on their first night. They will probably think he drank too much and passed out."

Ellie started to feel frustrated, not seeing how the guards would believe that theory.

"And _how_ do you know that?" she asked, wondering if he had actually been a guard once.

Joel didn't answer; instead he scaled the side of the electric fence and crouched down behind a wall near the gate that opened to let other guards and supplies in and out. She unwillingly followed, seeing that she had no other option other than to turn around and head back to the house; something that Joel probably wouldn't let her do.

Peeking out from the side of the wall, she noticed that guards were moving supplies through the gate.

"How are we going to get through this time?" Ellie whispered, wondering if Joel already had a plan.

Glancing over at her companion, she realized that Joel was looking at the surrounding. Waiting for a moment, Joel then motioned for her to follow him, scaling along the edge of the wall when the guards weren't noticing.

Ellie followed Joel and slipped behind another wall closer to the conveyer belt that was sending the goods through the gate. She was somewhat mesmerized by the way all the goods came through in one place, considering most of everything was scarce in the quarantine zone.

_Where does it all go?_ She wondered as she spied a large crate of food passing through the grate, but then glared over at the forms of the guards when another thought came:_ oh yeah, probably in their stomachs._

She continued to watch the supplies get shipped into the quarantine zone, becoming mesmerized once again as she felt a dazed feeling come over her. The feeling started to overtake her, so much so that she didn't hear anything until Joel roughly shook her shoulder.

"What?" she whispered, annoyed as time caught up to her.

"Under! Quick!" Joel whispered somewhat harshly. She stared at him for a moment before realizing that he was holding up a side of a tarp that covered a large, now-empty crate; the contents spilled under the conveyer belt.

Ellie quickly scampered under the tarp, followed by Joel who then pulled the tarp back over the entrance.

Darkness quickly followed, and Ellie was conscious of hearing her heartbeat. Voices echoed from the outside of the box: guards checking the contents for anything illegal.

_Including stowaways,_ Ellie realized, feeling nervous. She was about to ask Joel how they were going to not get caught when she heard the voices now above them.

"Let's check this one quick!" one of the guard's ordered, making Ellie hold her breath again when the tarp fluttered lightly.

"Looks like a big one," another guard said with an impressed whistle, "Wonder what could be in there."

"A dead body?" one of the guards joked, sending a ripple of laughter throughout the group.

Ellie quickly glanced over at Joel, seeing his eyes narrow a bit, almost like something was wrong.

_Let's hope not,_ she thought as the conversation above them continued.

"Alright, open it up!" the same guard from before ordered.

Ellie was about to say something when Joel's hand grabbed onto her wrist, making his skin grate sharply against her bleeding hand. Ellie used her other hand to cover her mouth, muffling her sharp intake of breath and almost shout at the pain it caused.

Joel glanced over at her and she felt tears sting at her eyes, wanting to yell at him for the multiple pains he had caused her in the span of an hour.

The tarp started to flap again, showering some light into the crate. The tarp was almost completely open when a horrible sound assaulted her ears, making the guard who had been opening it drop the tarp sharply.

"What was that?!" a guard shouted, mirroring Ellie's frantic thoughts.

"We have a runner!" another guard shouted, the sound of gunfire soon following.

The light in the crate got darker, and Ellie then realized that they were passing through the gate. A sharp tug on her wrist and the momentum of her weight being forced forward made her stumble out of the crate, landing on the ground again and trying to catch herself with her already bleeding hands.

Her head jolted up to glare at Joel, who was standing above her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Ready?" he asked her, making her think back to what had happened earlier.

"More so now," she said, standing up and following Joel into the fading light.

* * *

So, I guess I am taking on a different kind of responsibility this time since I am writing for a game that has not come out yet. I don't want to be criticized when the game actually comes out, but I am thinking this was how 'The Last of Us' might have started. I know that the characters might seem a bit OOC so far (at least from what we have seen from the trailers and gameplay), but I believe that the scenes in the trailers might have happened later on in the story (considering how protective Joel can appear of Ellie at times) and that their 'bond' could have been different at the beginning. Also, I know that with the way I ended this off, it could have been a One-shot, but due to some things mentioned in the chapter (like the unopened letter) that could be important for later, I have decided to continue this fanfiction. You can treat this as a One-shot if you would like, but I will be releasing more chapters in the future. Also, a note to people who read my other fanfictions: this is mostly why I have not updated in a while among other things. Please tell me what you thought of this and any comments and suggestions in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	2. Ups and Downs

**arcticfox42: **Thanks for the review! And yes, that is very long away :)

**NineJulySkies:** Thanks and I hope you enjoy this!

**Exleader75:** Glad to know that I'm not straying too far. And I didn't know there was going to be comics, so yay! :)

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** Thanks!

* * *

Chapter 2: Ups and Downs

Ellie's first impression with Joel was not getting any better. Actually, she liked to think it was worsening by the minute.

"What was that back there?" she had asked when they were far away enough for the guards to hear them; the gunshots and shouting had ceased a while back.

When Joel had given her a questioning look, Ellie had motioned to her sore and bleeding hands.

"We had to hide and you weren't getting in cover fast enough," Joel explained, stopping when they got to the tree line outside of Boston.

"I didn't know anyone was coming," she stated, "you could have warned me beforehand either way."

Joel had looked away for a moment, taking a calming breath.

"Look Ellie, I didn't sign up to babysit-" he had started, a bit annoyed.

"I _don't_ need babysitting," she cut him off sharply; "I can take care of myself."

_I have been for all these years,_ she thought, thinking of telling him when he hadn't answered for a moment.

"Let's keep moving," Joel had said, ignoring her comment for now, "we don't want to be in the open when night comes."

Joel had continued walking, leaving Ellie inwardly stunned and angry again at being ignored, before she had quickly walked to catch up to him.

She blew air out slowly, keeping pace with him as they continued to walk further into the forest. After a while she glanced over at Joel, a question at the front of her mind.

"What did they mean by a 'runner'?" she asked as she tilted her head, wondering about what had distracted the guards earlier.

Joel glanced at her, an almost disbelieving look in his eyes before he answered.

"They meant there was an Infected," Joel answered, surprising her.

"Infected aren't supposed to be inside the quarantine zone," Ellie mentioned, wondering how one of the former humans could have gotten inside.

"The guards don't catch everything that goes in and out of the quarantine zones," Joel said as he glanced at her, "we are proof of that."

Ellie realized that he was right, which was somewhat shocking at how "safe" they were inside the quarantine zones, at least according to the US military.

"So, how do you think it slipped past the guards?" Ellie wondered, "I mean, you think the guards would have realized something was different."

"Yes, they would have," Joel said, "_If_ the Infected was one to begin with."

Ellie was confused by that. She knew that Infected were former humans, but what did Joel mean?

"Do you mean that the Infected could have changed from a person into one while in the quarantine zone?" Ellie guessed and he nodded.

"Precisely. The person could have been infected with the virus and not have known it until it was too late," Joel explained, making another question form in her mind.

"The guards are always checking people for the virus though," Ellie wondered, "so how could they have missed someone with the virus?"

Joel stopped walking for a moment and stared at her, making her wonder if she said something she shouldn't have, but the look on Joel's face said otherwise.

"Do you always ask so many questions?" Joel asked with a hint of a smile. Ellie thought for a moment before answering.

"No, but it's so much more different out here," Ellie answered as she looked around, "I always thought it would be worse out here than in the quarantine zone, but I guess not. It can't be, can it?"

Joel gave a sigh at that and kept walking, making Ellie wonder if she had touched a sore subject for him.

"You have a lot to learn then," Joel said but then went back to her earlier question, "and like I said, the guards aren't perfect. The virus only takes a few days to take over the infected person's mind and turn them into a Runner."

Ellie nodded, understanding a bit more.

"So when they meant 'runner', they had seen an Infected?" Ellie questioned and Joel nodded, "but it seemed to be following us."

Joel stopped walking for a moment and glanced around, making Ellie a bit on edge. Just as she was reaching for her switchblade, Joel relaxed and kept walking.

"To a degree. It was able to sense your blood," Joel said as he motioned to her hands, making her somewhat angry at the meaning behind his words.

"So you mean you injured me on purpose?" Ellie asked, not sure whether to feel frustrated or angry.

"Not on purpose," Joel explained, "I didn't see the Infected trailing us until after the guard was passed out. I figured it was following us because of your injury."

Ellie sighed, finding this a lot to take in. She glanced at Joel.

"You thought that the Infected would be a good distraction to get us out of the quarantine zone," Ellie concluded, feeling somewhat worn out. Joel nodded and they lapsed into silence.

"How do you know so much?" Ellie asked after a while.

"Experience," Joel stated, but Ellie knew that there seemed to be something he was hiding.

"Like?" she prodded, but Joel didn't answer her, keeping silent as they continued to walk.

_There goes our socializing time,_ Ellie thought with a sigh.

"We can stay there for the night," Joel said after a while, pointing to what looked to be an abandoned shack.

"If there aren't any other residents?" Ellie asked and earned a nod.

When they got to the door of the shack, Joel put his arm out to signal to her to stop walking. They leaned up against the wall as Ellie held her breath. She didn't know what Joel was listening for, but after a few moments of silence he quietly opened the door.

Ellie followed him inside and saw that the shack was the definition of abandoned. Broken boards lay on the floor and no furniture seemed to exist, making her guess that the pieces of wood lying around was what was left of the furniture. Blood was stained on some areas of the room.

"We'll stay here unless something else comes along," Joel said as he closed the door behind them and then checked out all of the glass windows, some of them broken or cracked in places.

"Something else?" Ellie questioned, wanting to know just what could drive them from the shack.

"Infected, other survivors, or the military," Joel explained, but then continued, "The military probably won't be for a while though."

Ellie nodded and started to clear some boards away from the ground, wondering where they would sleep. Joel did the same thing and sat down; making her wonder if something was wrong.

"Are we going to sleep on the ground?" Ellie wondered, as she sat down. Sleeping in strange places had never been a problem for Ellie; most of the time the boarding houses or abandoned ones she had stayed in didn't have much.

"What else is there to sleep on?" Joel asked and then continued, "You get some rest. I'll wake you when it's time to go."

"Don't you need any sleep?" she wondered, lying down on the ground a few feet away.

"I'm fine for now," was his only reply.

Ellie closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind, knowing from experience that if you thought of too much you wouldn't be able to sleep, but that didn't work, since too much about the day was running through her head.

She opened her eyes after a while and saw Joel still sitting in the same place, positioned so that he could see out most of the windows.

Ellie sighed as she stood up and walked over to sit beside him, the motion making Joel glance at her.

"Can't sleep?" he asked and she nodded, "Nightmares?"

"More like lack of," Ellie answered with a slight smile, wondering if she should keep watch in case Joel needed to rest.

"Well, a lot of things out here can give you nightmares," Joel stated, making Ellie curious again.

"What happened?" she asked and at his confused glance, continued, "What happened to make you like this?"

Joel seemed to give her a hard stare, making her feel somewhat bad for him; whatever he had went through seemed to take a toll. Joel sighed, a bit irritated.

"Once upon a time," Joel started and Ellie wanted to scoff at him for using such child-like words, "I had someone that I cared about."

_Don't we all?_ She wondered but didn't interrupt in case of spoiling the moment.

At her glance, Joel reluctantly continued.

"But the only kind of thing _that_ gets you out here," Joel motioned to their surroundings angrily, "is to get you killed."

Ellie stared at him for a moment; wanting to tell him how non-educational he was being when it hit her.

_That person he loved,_ Ellie thought,_ something must have happened._

She glanced sympathetically at him.

"What?" he asked after a while, seemingly still annoyed at how she was looking at him.

"Something happened," Ellie said and Joel sighed.

"Yes," he answered and Ellie thought he was going to reveal more, "but you can't change the past. What's done is done."

Ellie stared at him for a moment before going to sit down a few feet away, feeling somewhat upset and angry. Joel didn't seem to understand this.

"Ellie?" he questioned, but she didn't answer, biting her lip. She heard him sigh behind her, becoming silent for a while.

Ellie knew he wouldn't understand what she had been through, how much of an effect his words had on her. She knew that he would probably be like every other adult who used to give her false sympathy in the quarantine zone. Joel's voice made her look over at him.

"Ellie, whatever you faced in there," Joel said with a jerk of his head back towards the direction they had come, "out here, it's going to be much worse."

Ellie knew he was speaking the truth, but it still angered her. He didn't understand.

"Wouldn't you like to know what I've been through?" Ellie bitterly asked, not planning on telling him. Joel stayed silent as she lay down, facing the wall this time.

Ellie closed her eyes and heard Joel sigh behind her, this time giving herself up to unpleasant dreams.

* * *

Personally, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, or even read this fanfiction so far. Your encouragement gave me the motivation to get this chapter out quicker. Anyway, this chapter is sort of like a filler where Ellie and Joel learn a bit more about each other, with Joel also opening up to Ellie a bit and her (Ellie's) constant questions. I am hoping I am not rushing this or any character development, since to me it seems like their relationship in the beginning might be an up-down one. I probably should have told you that I haven't watched all of the trailers yet (although I have watched the "Truck Ambush" which I am hoping to include), so I am not as well informed about the game. Anything that might be different to the trailers, or something that might be 'missing' might just come later in the story since I don't know the timeline of the events in the trailer. I am also hoping to include Joel's POV in this fanfiction at some point; I am just trying to work on it a bit since he is a bit harder to write. Once again, I thank you for reading this and I hope you tell me what you thought (and any comments or ideas) in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	3. Lessons and First Encounter

**Exleader75:** Thank you for the information. I am sorry about the mix up; I have a problem of calling it the Cordyceps virus instead of fungus (or switching between the two). Also, shortly before writing the chapter I had been writing a sample of a later chapter in which I used Cordyceps fungus a lot, which made me think that I used it for the chapter as well. Also about Joel's quote, yes I heard something like that in one of the trailers (I think it was the "Extended Red Band Story Trailer") and thought that it was interesting. Sorry that it is going a bit slow as well but since the game isn't out yet I want to develop the characters and story a bit more.

**AnimeWolfGirl16:** The house is similar, but not the same one. That part will hopefully come later.

**NineJulySkies:** Thanks! I'm glad to know that the characters aren't off their revealed personalities so far. Hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Chapter 3: Lessons and First Encounter

Somewhere between her dreams and the world outside them, Ellie felt someone shaking her.

Her hand went for her switchblade as she opened her eyes and stared at her 'attacker', which turned out to be Joel. As Ellie put the switchblade in one of her pants pockets, Joel had an amused look on his face.

"At least I know you have something to defend yourself with," Joel stated as Ellie rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Glancing outside, she realized it was still dark out.

"Why did you wake me?" Ellie asked, feeling somewhat annoyed at her lack of sleep.

"I told you that I would wake you up when we had to leave," Joel stated as he stood up. Ellie didn't want to admit to him that she had forgotten.

"This early in the morning?" she questioned, pointing to the dark landscape outside of the window. Ellie was used to getting up early to try and find food at the boarding houses, or other such things, but this was somewhat ridiculous.

"We need to keep moving," Joel explained, "we don't want to run into whoever might be staying here or get found by the Infected, and we have a long way to travel."

Ellie stood up and grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders as she followed Joel out the door.

"Do you even know where the Fireflies are?" Ellie asked, somewhat hoping this would be a short trip. Joel shook his head.

"No, but last I heard they were somewhere near California," he explained, making Ellie try to imagine a map of the country and where the area Joel mentioned was at.

She had seen a map in one of the boarding houses once and tried to memorize it. The information from the imagined map made her cringe inwardly; it was going to be a long trip.

"So, where are we headed now?" Ellie wondered, imagining the map in her head again. Joel glanced back at her.

"New York," he said and Ellie pinpointed the location on her imaginary map, "I have to meet with someone there. We can also get some more supplies."

Ellie looked back at her backpack, wondering what else she could fit into it, and then glanced at Joel's slightly bigger one. Her eyes narrowed, wondering what he had in his.

They continued to walk for a while before something clicked in Ellie's mind. Not a lot of people knew about the Fireflies location, since it was kept mostly secret, so how did Joel seem to know so much?

"How do you know where the Fireflies are located?" Ellie asked, being careful to guard her words.

"Like I said, I don't know exactly where, but they are rumored to be near California," Joel answered, making Ellie feel suspicious.

She ran ahead to block his path and stared at him.

"Not a lot of information is released to the public about the Fireflies, especially in Boston," Ellie explained when Joel stopped walking, "so how do you seem to know so much?"

"My…" Joel seemed to struggle with a word for a moment, "occupation allows me to listen to closely guarded information, as well as find certain things out."

Joel continued to walk forward after that and Ellie let him past her, wondering how much of what he said was true. The one thing she had learned in the quarantine zone was that most people kept secrets and lied often.

"If you have an occupation," Ellie continued as she caught up to him, "why are you trekking across the country with me in tow, instead of doing your job?"

"Part of my _job_," Joel stated, slightly annoyed, "is to get you to the Fireflies."

As they continued to walk, Ellie wondered what kind of strange job Joel had. Scanning her mind for anything that could be relevant, Ellie remembered a book she had read in one of the boarding houses back at the quarantine zone, listing jobs and hobbies before the pandemic.

_Before the pandemic,_ Ellie thought with a sigh,_ the pandemic is all I know._

Joel glanced back at her sigh but said nothing.

Ellie stopped when she thought she heard something in the distance. Glancing ahead of them, she spotted flashes of blue through the trees.

"A river?" she guessed and Joel nodded.

"That will be helpful for refilling our water supplies," Joel explained, and Ellie almost wanted to remind him that she wasn't a child.

Ellie followed Joel up to the river and bent down, cupping water in her hands a taking a sip.

"It's cold," Ellie declared as she stood up, somewhat shivering.

"The trees around here block the sunlight from coming in, making the temperature of the water lower," Joel explained as he started to look up one end of the river and saw it sloping a bit. Ellie followed his gaze.

"Maybe it comes from higher up?" she guessed, "Like in the mountains?"

"Most likely," Joel answered with a nod.

Ellie started to turn around, but stopped when she heard a sloshing sound. Turning around, her eyes widened when she saw that Joel was starting to wade through the river. Joel looked back at her.

"Aren't you coming?" Joel asked and at her disbelieving glance stated, "the river isn't moving too fast so you won't get swept downstream."

"It's cold," Ellie repeated with a shake of her head. She was surprised that Joel could keep standing in the river easily. He let out a breath at her stubbornness.

"What would you do if a group of Infected was chasing you and you came to a river?" Joel asked her, making her try to picture the scene in her head.

Since she really had never had the chance to observe an Infected, only hear about them in stories and the news, she was having a hard time picturing what Joel was asking.

"Run along the river in a different direction?" she guessed, shrugging since she couldn't picture the scene well enough. Joel gave an annoyed sigh.

"What if they are coming at you from all directions, blocking your path until the only way to escape was through the river," Joel added, "What would you do then?"

Ellie thought this was one of the strangest questions anyone had ever asked her.

"Wait for something to float by?" she asked jokingly. Joel gave her an amused look.

"Yes, _if_ the river was made of lava," he answered, and Ellie could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"Come on," Joel beckoned with a wave of his hand as he continued to wade through the river to the other side. Ellie glanced downstream and looked for anything that might actually start floating her way.

_Wishful thinking,_ she thought when she saw nothing.

Placing her feet down into the water first, Ellie sucked in her breath sharply, still being able to feel majority of the cold water even with her shoes on.

_How did he even do this?_ Ellie wondered as she glanced over at Joel, who was by now at the other side of the river.

"One step at a time," she muttered, sucking in her breath sharply again as she waded down deeper into the water.

By the time she got to the other side, Ellie was trying to control her shivering.

"See, you did it," Joel remarked when she got to the other side of the river. Ellie would have said something if her teeth would stop chattering. When she felt that her body would move without making her overly freezing, Ellie stood up. Joel took this as a sign to leave and started to walk away from the river, with Ellie in tow.

"Wait!" she called to him as she started to take off her somewhat damp backpack. She knelt down and laid it on the ground, opening the front pocket and glancing inside. Sticking her hand into the pocket, her hand searched around for the letter, which was thankfully still dry.

_The backpack must have taken most of the water,_ Ellie thought somewhat relieved before turning angry, _why should I even care?_

Quickly zipping up the pocket and slinging the backpack over her shoulders, Ellie glanced up to see Joel giving her a questioning look, but he didn't say anything.

Joel continued to walk and Ellie caught up to him, thinking as she stared at their surroundings.

"Cordyceps," she mumbled, not realizing she had said anything out loud.

"The fungus?" Joel questioned and she nodded.

"Such a strange name. I know that it was supposed to be scientific and all, but why not make it something easier?" Ellie questioned, and Joel gave somewhat of a laugh.

"Scientists used to give things fancy names for more than one reason," Joel explained, "The main one was to classify their Genus Species."

"Their type?" Ellie questioned and Joel nodded.

"Some Cordyceps fungus could also be used for medicine," Joel said with a frown, "that was until the fungus started to infect humans."

"Maybe that's what started the virus in the first place," Ellie mumbled and Joel shrugged.

"No one knows how the fungus is spread; some think it's through the air, or maybe if they injure you it could be spread into your bloodstream," Joel said, "it's anyone's guess."

They lapsed into silence soon after, giving Ellie time to glance at their surroundings. She narrowed her eyes when a light brown color was seen through the trees.

"Another shack," Ellie stated while pointing in the direction.

"It's too early to stay there, but might be good for supplies," Joel said and Ellie nodded, changing their course to the house.

Joel stopped them suddenly when they got closer to the house, which was a bit larger than the last shack.

"What is it?" Ellie asked, looking around frantically. She saw Joel's eyes narrow before a look of recognition followed.

"We need to get inside," Joel said urgently as he started to walk, Ellie being so stunned that she stood there for a few moments, prompting him to say, "Now."

"What's wrong?" she asked as they ran towards the house, feeling some fear course through her.

"Something bad," Joel answered, making her uncertainty heighten her fear.

"But won't there be someone here?" Ellie asked and Joel glanced back at her.

"Let's hope not, or things are going to get a lot more complicated," Joel said as they reached the door.

Ellie kept glancing behind them while Joel tried to open the door, muttering something under his breath when he couldn't open it.

"Through here," Joel commanded as he broke the glass on one of the windows with a stray board. Ellie climbed through, feeling pain as the broken glass cut her.

As soon as she was through the window, she fell to the floor, her pain being replaced by the sense of a horrible smell.

"What _is_ that?" Ellie asked as she plugged her nose. Joel had just gotten through the window.

Glancing around the room, she then caught sight of what was emitting the horrible smell: a dead body lying slumped over a bed, blood making a puddle on the floor.

"I'm going to check the other rooms," Joel's voice was now a whisper, "stay here, unless you hear anything."

Ellie shook her head as she watched Joel creep up the steps, wishing he would sometimes be clearer with what he meant. If she heard something? What was she supposed to hear?

"Might as well check these rooms," Ellie muttered, walking towards one of the halls on the lower floor.

Ellie glanced around the small room as she walked into it, recognizing it as a bathroom. She was starting to rummage through a drawer underneath the sink when she heard noises coming from above.

"Joel?" she yelled, running to the bottom of the stairs and hearing the sounds intensify. Running up the stairs, she saw shadows being reflected outside one of the rooms, making her sneak along the wall and pull out her switchblade. She rounded the corner just as Joel hit someone on the head with a plank.

"Hey," Ellie greeted, getting his attention. He looked over at her with an unreadable expression.

"You ok?" Joel asked as she started to walk towards him. Ellie motioned to the now dead body on the floor.

"Better than him," she said with a smile, even though she somewhat felt guilty. Joel nodded, starting to search through drawers in the room.

"Search him and then we can move on," Joel ordered and Ellie bent down, turning the body over and spying a pack for carrying supplies.

_Yeah, leave me to touch the dead guy,_ Ellie thought as she started to open the pack, rummaging around for a few moments. Her hand hit something and she pulled it out, seeing some unused bullets.

"Might be useful," she muttered as she rolled the used ones onto the floor. Ellie started to put the bullets into her backpack for later, even though they didn't have a gun at the moment.

A familiar sound hit her ears, making her glance up to see shadows running outside the windows.

"What-?" she started to mutter but stopped when she felt Joel tug roughly on her arm, pulling her into the next room. She was about to ask him what was wrong, but he silenced her as they leaned against the wall.

Ellie heard the same sounds again; they almost sounded like clicking. Noises passed the door that sound like sloppy footsteps, and Ellie held her breath, wondering if the other people using the house had found them.

She heard Joel start to unzip his backpack, pulling a pistol out a moment later. Her eyes widened, making her want to ask him when he had gotten that, but knowing the moment wasn't right.

Joel glanced at her and she knew he saw the uncertainty in her eyes, as well as the fear. She saw him take a deep breath, and found herself wondering what was going to attack them. She quickly took out her switchblade, nodding at Joel.

As soon as Joel rounded the corner, something dark lunged at him. Ellie felt stunned, not able to identify what was attacking him. She saw Joel start to struggle with the creature.

_It's now or never,_ she thought, running towards Joel's attacker and plunging the switchblade into its back.

At the creature's cry of pain, Ellie repeated the action. A moment later she heard a gunshot, followed by blood spatters.

"Ellie, run!" Joel shouted, making her senses awaken again as she bolted out the door, running down the hallway and towards the exit. She glanced back at Joel, remembering that the door was jammed when they had tried to get in. Looking ahead at the door, she heard another gunshot behind them.

Her weight jolted against the door, slamming into it but not opening it. Ellie started to feel frantic, shoving her shoulder into the door as hard as she could, but not succeeding in opening it.

Her eyes wandered back to where Joel was, seeing an almost humanoid creature chasing him. He suddenly hit the door too, and with their combined force was able to get it open.

Ellie nearly tripped on the way out, not expecting the sudden jolt as sunlight came through the door. She caught herself with her hands, reopening the injuries from the other day. Turning around, Ellie caught sight of what she had thought was a human, now seeing it running towards her.

A startled cry came from her throat as she opened her switchblade, feeling fear and disgust running through her. Another gunshot assaulted her hearing, and the creature fell to the side dead.

Ellie stayed where she was for a moment, seeing the humanoid creature with fungus growing out of its head, before she felt someone jerk her to her feet, pulling her away from the sight.

She could hear Joel's heavy breathing beside her, mirroring her own light, faster breaths. Ellie was convinced she was inwardly having a panic attack.

"What were those things?" she asked, feeling sick as she remembered the sight from a few moments ago.

"Those were the Infected," Joel answered, watching as she kneeled on the ground. She glanced up to see an almost angry expression on his face.

"Infected?" Ellie asked, disbelieving, "Those _things_ are the _Infected_?"

"Yes," Joel said, taking a breath, "I thought you had seen one before."

As Ellie shook her head, she heard the sound of Joel checking the gun for bullets; when he muttered under his breath angrily, Ellie guessed he was all out.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered, pressing her head against the ground. She felt Joel pick her up roughly, not even giving her the chance to even try and throw up.

"You had better get used to it then because there are plenty more of those things out here," Joel replied, and she could tell he was angry.

"What has gotten into you?" Ellie questioned as she harshly pushed away from his grip on her, feeling sick and angered.

"I can't keep babysitting you," Joel answered and she turned away, fuming.

"It's not my fault that thing came after me," she replied, "I thought it was following you."

"Like I said the other day, it can sense your blood," Joel repeated, making her turn around to glare at him.

"It wouldn't be able to 'sense' my blood if you wouldn't have injured me in the first place!" Ellie yelled, turning and walking a few feet away from him. She heard an aggravated sigh from behind her.

Her anger was replaced by surprise as she turned around to see Joel walking away from her.

"Where are you going?" she asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice. Joel didn't answer; instead he continued to walk in the direction that Ellie guessed they were originally going in.

Ellie stood there for a few moments and, after deciding she didn't want to be alone if more of the Infected came after them, quickly ran to catch up to Joel.

She bit her lip, feeling somewhat bad about yelling at him. Of course he would be angry, she had almost gotten herself killed and now they were out of bullets.

_Almost,_ Ellie thought as her eyes widened, bending down and taking her backpack off to set it on the ground. The noise she was making made Joel turn around and look at her with a curious expression on his face.

Ellie rummaged around in her backpack and found what she was looking for, closing it in her hands and slinging the backpack over her shoulders. She walked up to Joel hesitantly, opening her hand to show him the bullets.

"I found them back at the house," Ellie explained, glancing away as she handed them to him, almost as an apology.

She knew Joel could shoot her now if he wanted to, but instead she heard him sigh.

"Let's keep moving," he said and Ellie glanced at him, seeing a tired expression on his face. She only nodded and walked behind him.

Ellie didn't know how long they had been walking or how far, but when Joel stopped she glanced at the sky, seeing it was getting dark out.

"I'm going to check to see if any Infected followed us," Joel stated as he sat his pack on the ground. Ellie nodded and he walked off.

Her hand wandered to her switchblade, not opening it. She twisted it in her hand, not sure of what to do.

Her eyes wandered over to Joel's backpack, sitting on the ground a few feet away from her. He had taken the pistol and some extra ammo in case he ran in to trouble, but left his pack here…

_Don't think like that,_ Ellie thought, _you don't want to get on his bad side._

She forced herself to stare at the ground, but her eyes kept wandering back towards the pack out of curiosity.

"One look shouldn't hurt," she mumbled, crawling over to Joel's pack and opening the largest pocket, "besides, I wonder what else he has in here."

Ellie's head tilted to the side as she spotted several objects: a flashlight, canteen, and some first-aid objects, among other things. Her eyes scanned over the contents, settling on what looked to be four syringes.

Ellie picked one of them up, seeing that they had a dark blue liquid in them.

_What is this?_ She wondered as she stared at the foreign liquid,_ it doesn't look like anything I've seen in the quarantine zone or in books._

She turned the syringe over in her hand, looking for some kind of information to tell her what the liquid was, who prescribed it, and so on.

_There's nothing here. That means whatever is in this syringe is illegal,_ Ellie thought, but then her eyes widened, _Which means Joel is a-_

"What are you doing?" Joel's voice reappeared a few feet behind her before she could finish her thought.

Ellie turned around, still holding the syringe.

"What is this?" she asked, holding the syringe out towards him, "Doesn't look like it's legal."

She saw Joel's eyes narrow.

"Why are you looking through my pack?" Joel asked, making her irritated that he didn't answer her question.

"Got curious," Ellie said, staring at the floor, "especially since you pulled a pistol out of nowhere earlier."

"Put it down, Ellie," Joel ordered, and she felt her anger rise.

"You're a part of the black market," Ellie stated, feeling her temperature rise, "You smuggle illegal things in and out of the quarantine zones. That's how you knew how to get out so easily."

"Ellie, put the syringe down," there was a hint of warning in Joel's voice, but Ellie was surprised to see what looked to be fear in his eyes.

"Why?" she asked bitterly, "Because you're worried I'll damage your stupid cargo-"

Ellie suddenly gasped as the syringe broke in her clenched hand, glass and liquid digging into her skin. Her vision started swirling as she pressed her head into the ground. She tucked her bleeding hand, which by now felt like it was on fire, against her curled up body.

Beyond her pain, she heard Joel swear as he ran over towards her, making sure to get the rest of the broken syringe away from her.

"You ok?" Joel's voice started to penetrate the hazy fog she was feeling. Looking up at his from her position on the ground, she realized how pitiful she must look. She felt her vision start to blur, and wanted to tell him that she should have listened, but something held her back.

"What is that stuff?" she asked, her voice sounding weak as she started to shiver. She saw Joel glance around them and sigh.

"_That_," Joel said as he pointed to the broken syringe on the ground, "was what you could call an in-development vaccine to the fungus."

Ellie stared at him, her mouth slightly open in shock. She glanced down at the broken syringe and then at her bleeding hand, where the liquid had seeped through her cuts.

"A vaccine?" she asked, tilting her head while staring at her hand. Joel nodded.

"Extremely hard to get," Joel mumbled just loud enough for her to hear as he looked over at his backpack, where the three other syringes were.

"So, how did you get them?" Ellie asked and at Joel's hesitance added, "I know your _job_ already, remember?"

"When I was asked to bring you to the Fireflies, I had been in the process of delivering the temporary vaccine," Joel explained, "I wasn't able to get them to their destination, so I just kept them with me."

Ellie nodded, feeling somewhat sleepy. She lowered herself onto her side; her head now lying on the ground. She saw Joel get up and walk over to his backpack, grabbing something in his hands before walking over and bending down by her now outstretched hand.

"What are you doing?" Ellie asked, changing her position so she could see him.

"We need to get you cleaned up," Joel stated, staring at the shards of glass in her hand.

Ellie saw Joel take out something that resembled tweezers and looked away, flinching now and then at the pain caused by the glass being removed; most of the time, she felt numb, which was strange but better considering the condition of her hand.

Her senses started to come back when she heard Joel unscrewing something. Glancing over at him, she saw he had opened his water canteen. Ellie wouldn't have minded, after all it was just water, but the stinging sensation made her jerk her hand away from the flow of water.

Joel's gaze found her as she tried to sit up, partially succeeding, while holding her hand against her shirt, trying to stop the stinging. She saw Joel frown for a moment, staring at her hand and then at the water canteen.

"Come on," Joel said, motioning at her hand. Ellie shook her head, not caring if she seemed childish at the moment. Joel sighed and screwed the cap back on the canteen, giving Ellie a glance as he threw it back in his backpack. He then picked up something else, which she recognized as a bandage wrap.

Ellie sighed and extended her hand, allowing Joel to wrap it to stop the blood flow.

"There," Joel muttered as he put the bandage away, "better?"

Ellie watched as he continued to put the medical supplies away, then moving the broken glass down towards where they had come. She lay back down on the ground, watching as Joel did the same a few feet away.

"Thanks," she muttered, not even sure if Joel could hear her. She was answered with a nod before drifting off to sleep, thinking:

_Impressions do get better._

* * *

This was actually supposed to be a bit longer, but I am going to put what I would have as the next chapter; I just thought this was a nice way to stop. Either way, like I said earlier, lots of ups and downs (and poor Joel getting yelled at several times). I am sure that Ellie has seen an Infected before (at least from what I have been researching about the comics), but let's say for the sake of this fanfiction that she hasn't before this chapter; that's what AUs are for, right? Also, I am pretty sure that the syringes with the 'strange liquid' in them are not in the game; those were made up by me and are very important for later in the fanfiction. Anyway, please tell me any ideas or thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	4. A New Companion

Chapter 4: A New Companion

Ellie was woken up by the sound of rustling. Opening her eyes, she saw that Joel was moving around their 'camp', making sure everything was packed up.

Ellie sighed, sitting up and yawning.

"Is this going to be a normal thing?" she asked, and at his questioning glance continued, "You waking up before me, very early in the morning…"

Joel gave her a look that she interpreted as 'what do you think?' His amused glance convinced her even more.

"You could just as easily change it if you got up before me," Joel answered as he picked up his backpack.

"Fat chance," Ellie muttered, smiling as she got up and grabbed her backpack, getting ready to continue what was starting to become a daily routine.

Joel set off like usual with Ellie following behind him, and Ellie hoped that today would be less eventful; she had had enough of a busy time two days ago.

Joel looked back at her after a while, and Ellie wondered what he wanted.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning slightly as she glanced around for anything that seemed to be amiss. Nothing seemed wrong.

"Something's bothering you," Joel stated, making her smile a bit.

"How do you know that?" she asked jokingly and he glanced back at her.

"You aren't asking as many questions," Joel stated, making her feel a bit annoyed.

"If you want questions, I can come up with a bunch right now," Ellie joked, although it seemed true enough.

Joel sighed, and Ellie could tell that wasn't the response he had been hoping for. She waited a bit before starting her questioning.

"Hey, Joel?" she asked, and when he glanced back at her continued, "Why do people call the Infected 'Runners'?"

Joel was silent for a bit, probably deciding on what to say.

"The Infected have different stages," Joel explained, "The first stage is what you would call a 'Runner'."

"How many stages are there?" Ellie asked, wondering what she had seen two days ago.

"Three so far. Runners, Clickers, and something unknown," Joel stated, "It only takes a few days for someone who is infected to turn into a Runner, and Clickers take a bit longer…"

"What about the last one?" Ellie asked when he stopped.

"No one is really sure about the last one," Joel said, "that's why it's not classified yet."

"So even with your job, you still don't know?" Ellie asked, and heard Joel sigh.

"Yes, my _job_ doesn't let me know everything," Joel stated and Ellie wondered about that. Joel did seem to know a lot, but he had told her earlier that he did because of experience.

_So, he probably hasn't seen the unknown stage,_ Ellie concluded as she stepped over a fallen log.

"Who do you need to meet with?" she asked after a while, not liking the silence around them.

Joel looked back at her, a somewhat guarded expression on his face. She could understand why; even though their awkward "relationship" had improved over the past two days, he still wasn't going to trust her as much since she had rummaged through his things.

"A friend-" Joel started, but Ellie cut him off.

"Another friend," she muttered, and then louder asked, "Do _any_ of your friends have names?"

"Yes," Joel answered, sounding a bit irritated, "but you don't need to know them right now."

_So there's Unknown Friend #1 and Unknown Friend #2,_ she wanted to say out loud, but didn't want another fight between them; that had already caused enough damage.

"Can you tell me a bit more about the Infected?" Ellie asked, changing the subject, "I at least want to know what we are up against."

Joel looked a bit hesitant at first, but then nodded.

"Runners are the earliest stage of the Infected. The fungus has just started to take over them, so they know what they are doing might be wrong. They just don't have any way to fight it," Joel explained, "Clickers have little to no eyesight. They rely on echolocation."

"Like bats?" she wondered, remembering that she had read something like that in a book.

"Sort of. They make those strange clicking sounds, so they are easier to identify when they come near," Joel said as Ellie remembered the strange sounds she had heard in the house, then comparing them back to the ones in Boston.

"So Runners sound different?" she asked, trying to differentiate between the sounds she had heard.

"They sound more similar to humans than clickers do," Joel said after a while. Ellie started to get worried.

"Do they look more like humans?" she asked and when Joel nodded, she continued, "So what attacked us was a Clicker."

Joel didn't say any more, but by his silence she guessed that she was right.

Ellie stayed silent for a while, thinking over what she had been told.

_If they look more like humans, wouldn't that make them harder to-?_ She started to think but her train of thought was interrupted by Joel's voice.

"Here we are," he stated, and Ellie looked in front of them to see a small quarantine zone, some houses and buildings inside of it.

"Kind of looks like Boston," Ellie muttered, but got no reply from Joel.

She looked over at him and saw that his eyes were scanning the fence around the quarantine zone.

"Are we going to sneak in again?" Ellie asked, and at Joel's nod, reached for her switchblade. His hand stopped her.

"We don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble," Joel stated quickly, and Ellie felt somewhat irked.

Confusion replaced her anger when she saw Joel start to sneak towards one of the opposite ends of the fence. She quickly followed, not wanting to ruin their cover by standing in the open.

Ellie caught up to him and stayed silent, even though a million questions were running through her head. Her confusion was increased when Joel put his hand under a section of the fence, lifting it up enough for them to crawl through.

Ellie thought it was a bit strange that there was a secret entrance as she crawled through the section of fence, but then she figured that it would make sense for people of Joel's _occupation_.

She moved out of the way so Joel could get through and looked around, realizing they were in an abandoned alleyway.

"Joel, are you sure these passageways are safe?" Ellie asked, reaching for her switchblade in her pocket. Joel glanced back at her, quickening his pace a bit.

"We should be there soon," he answered, which didn't help to calm her nerves.

Ellie was about to ask where they were going to be, but heard the sounds of a struggle in the distance. Her eyes widened as she saw Joel start to run towards the sounds.

They rounded the corner just as she saw a man hit the ground. A woman was standing over him, something in her hands that looked similar to a metal pipe.

Ellie gripped her switchblade, wondering if they were going to attack the woman, but her stance relaxed a bit when Joel walked up to the woman, helping her tie the man down.

Ellie stood watching; the man was now yelling curses at them as the woman said something to him. She was too far away to make out what it was, but her grip on her switchblade tightened as she saw the woman take something from the man's pocket.

She saw Joel whisper something to the woman, and then both of them glanced over at her. Her gaze narrowed as Joel walked over with the woman following him.

Joel eyed her switchblade and shook his head.

"Ellie, put it away," he ordered, and she bit her lip as she remembered the last time she disobeyed him. She slipped the switchblade into her pocket as she stared at Joel, feeling inwardly uncomfortable.

"Come on," Joel stated as he turned around, with Ellie feeling confused as she followed him through the alley. She glanced at the tied up man one more time before they rounded the corner, walking into an inn.

Ellie went and sat down in one of the chairs against the wall, figuring Joel would get her attention if he needed her. The one thing that bothered her was the woman, who seemed very similar to Joel.

_Who is she?_ Ellie thought as Joel and the woman started to talk.

* * *

Sorry, I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but this is what I would have had added on to the last chapter if I wouldn't have ended it off. Next chapter I am hoping to start in Joel's POV, and I am hoping to do him justice since I have only started writing his POV in some of the samples. Also, I was wondering if you wanted me to start naming the chapters to give you a sort of summary of them; I would go back and name the chapters before this, but I was just wondering what you (as the reader) had as a preference. The next chapter will hopefully be out soon, but until then please tell me your thoughts and ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	5. New York

**Exleader75:** I actually originally planned to combine the two chapters, but I thought that Chapter 3 had a good stopping point. I know that the game does span a year (from what I have researched), so it does take a while for them to get to the Fireflies. Also, yes (if I have anything to say about it) Joel will definitely be telling stories, possibly as soon as this chapter. I wasn't so sure about the 'third stage' of the Infected at first, but I did a bit more research and found out it is classified as a stage, it just comes after the Clicker (supposedly when they know they are going to die, if the characters haven't taken them out either way, but I'll explain more as Ellie and Joel learn more about the 'unknown' stage).

* * *

Chapter 5: New York

Joel didn't know really what to think of Ellie. One moment she would be innocent, asking him questions about the outside world, and the next she would be yelling at him.

He found it especially strange about how the Infected could 'sense' her. That normally didn't happen, even if the Infected could use echolocation and their sense of smell was far superior to normal humans. She didn't seem to know the difference though, and he figured he wouldn't enlighten her on it.

He knew the Infected could 'sense' each other, so there was the thought that maybe Ellie was infected. That would explain the somewhat strange way she had acted when the vaccine had gotten into her cuts.

Joel figured he would wait a few days, and if she was infected, then he would have a short trip. So far though, she didn't have any of the signs of being infected. Plus he didn't know how someone would react to the vaccine, since it was still in-progress and he had never used it himself.

He figured he would have a complicated time of explaining to the person who had wanted them why there was now only three and not four.

Then there was the fact that he could no longer trust her alone with his things, considering even though she was still more mature than those her age, she still had child-like curiosity.

_Which is why I should have just brought it with me in the first place,_ Joel thought, spying the inn in front of them.

He glanced over and saw Ellie sit down at a table in the corner of the wall.

_She should be ok there for a while,_ he thought as he chose a table close by and sat down.

"Tess, it's been a while," Joel started as he saw his long-time friend sit down across the table.

"How did you know where to find me?" she asked, but then shook her head, guessing what he was about to say next.

"I've been asking around a bit," he explained, "Figured out you came here."

Tess nodded and he stole a quick glance at Ellie, seeing her eyes closed with her head slumped against the wall. Tess followed his gaze, her eyes full of curiosity.

"What are you doing around here with a little girl in tow?" she asked him, the question making him sigh.

"It's complicated," he replied, "Something came up."

Joel glanced around the inn and saw that it was empty; he hadn't wanted anyone to hear what he had to say next.

"I'm supposed to bring Ellie to the Fireflies," he whispered, still wary of someone listening in on their conversation. Her eyes widened a bit.

"The Fireflies," she repeated, "That's a long way off. California, right?"

"Yes, from what I've heard," he said with a sigh, "Let's just hope they stay in one place."

Tess nodded, and after a few tense moments of silence, Joel spoke his mind.

"What are you doing in New York anyway?" he asked, "You usually stay around Boston."

"I didn't leave that bit of information behind. Didn't want the others to steal this chance," Tess started and Joel gave her a somewhat questioning look.

"Chance?" he pried, wanting to know what his friend had supposedly come up with.

He saw her hand reach into her pocket, pulling out what she had taken from the man's pocket earlier. It looked to be a note.

"What does it say?" Joel asked, feeling curious about the contents.

"You know that temporary vaccine that you transported into Boston," Tess mentioned, and he thought about telling her how he hadn't had the chance to deliver them.

"Yes," Joel sighed and continued, "but when I said that something came up, it involved the vaccine."

Tess stared at him for a moment, and then glanced at Ellie.

"I wasn't able to deliver the vaccine because of having to bring Ellie to the Fireflies," Joel said and at his friend's questioning look, he continued, "also; there are now only three vaccines."

"I won't ask what happened," Tess replied and then held up the note, "Although what I have found out from this note should be able to help fix that."

Tess handed him the note and he read over it quickly. When he was done, he handed it back to Tess.

"They are going to try and mass-produce them?" Joel questioned, wanting to make sure the information was correct.

"I was skeptical at first too," Tess replied with a shake of her head, "but I have found other notes from people around here, and in Boston too."

Joel leaned back in his chair, thinking about what he had just been told.

"So what you are telling me is that if we can figure out where the shipment is going to arrive from…" he started to say.

"It's going to be a goldmine," Tess finished, but then glanced over at Ellie again, "There is just one problem."

Joel followed her gaze, feeling relief that Ellie wasn't hearing any of this. She would have had too many questions later if she had.

"She already knows what I do for a living," Joel answered, "If that's what you are worried about-"

Tess cut him off with a shake of the head.

"It's not that. You realize that with an opportunity this big, if we get caught, the consequences will be even bigger," Tess stated, "I already have come up with a plan of how to get the information, but your companion won't go for it."

Joel knew that she was right; Ellie had already expressed her dislike of the black market.

"So it's choose between Ellie, or this?" he mumbled, directing his gaze to the table.

"Joel, she's just cargo," Tess said, staring at him, "Just like anything else you have ever handled."

"This time it's different, Tess," Joel said, standing up.

"What makes it different?" Tess asked, giving him a hard stare. He shook his head.

"This time, I promised to get her there," Joel stated, glancing at Ellie, "I can't back down from that."

"Joel, there are going to be things on this journey you are taking her on, that she will wish that she never saw," Tess started, standing up from her seat.

"She's already seen some of it," he replied, remembering back to the Infected inside of the house two days ago.

"Joel, look at it this way," she said, clearly becoming irritated, "How much experience does she have with the outside world? You don't even know if she will make it to California."

Joel sighed, knowing she was somewhat right.

"I at least have to try," he said, thinking of going to wake Ellie up now. He wanted this conversation to be over.

"What makes you so determined to try?" Tess asked, clearly confused. She had every right, since he normally wasn't so stubborn.

"I'm not so sure," Joel said with a sigh, "I guess when I think about the way we have lived, all these years, there is no hope left. There's no code that we haven't broken to survive. Ellie somehow seems different."

"Are you acting on what you have promised to do, or on your emotions?" Tess questioned, making him turn around to stare at her.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, feeling somewhat annoyed. Of course he would be doing it because he promised, wasn't he?

"If she gets Infected, would you shoot her?" Tess asked, making him shake his head.

"What kind of question is that?" Joel retorted, wishing Tess would drop the subject.

"Joel, we have been shooting people for a long time now," Tess said, her voice a bit louder.

"No, we are surviving-" Joel started; trying to reason with her, but his sentence was cut off.

"This is our chance!" she said, staring at him somewhat desperately. Something hit a nerve inside him.

"It's over, Tess!" he yelled, and a moment later heard the sound of a chair hitting the floor.

Both Joel and Tess looked over to see Ellie, now awake with a confused and somewhat frightened expression on her face, switchblade in hand. Ellie gave him a questioning look after a moment.

"It's ok Ellie," he answered as she went to pick up the chair. He glanced back at his old friend, who by now looked a bit calmer.

"I can help you get to where the capitol was, but after that, I need to stay here," Tess answered, "Once we get there, I'll explain things more."

Joel nodded, seeing Ellie walking over towards them.

"Thanks Tess," he said, motioning for them to walk out of the inn.

* * *

Ellie had been in a dream; one that made her heart speed up with fear. People had been shouting, and there had been a lone figure yelling something urgently at her.

She had then been awoken by shouting and, still thinking she was in the dream, drawn her switchblade and stared over at the source of the yelling: Joel and the woman (her name she learned was Tess before falling asleep); both looking extremely angry.

She gave Joel a questioning look.

"It's ok Ellie," he answered, and she put her switchblade away, walking up to them.

She kind of wished she wouldn't have fallen asleep so she would have been able to know what they were talking about, especially when Joel stated, "Thanks Tess."

Joel motioned for her to follow them as they walked out of the inn.

"Where are we going now?" she asked, feeling somewhat guarded now that they had another person traveling with them.

_Hopefully not for long,_ she though as she glanced at Tess.

"Where the capitol used to be," Joel answered, and Ellie felt some strain of emotions between Joel and his 'friend'.

"How come?" she wondered, but instantly regretted it when Joel looked at Tess for an answer.

"From there you will be able to make it easier into Pennsylvania, but I'll explain more when we get to the capitol," Tess answered and Ellie resisted the urge to reach for her switchblade, knowing that if Joel saw then he would reprimand her about it later.

_Something happened while I was asleep;_ Ellie thought as she glanced between the two adults in front of her,_ I really wish I would have faked sleeping._

That had been what she was planning to do; closing her eyes while listening in to their conversation, but once she closed them it had been too hard to not succumb to sleep.

Ellie glanced up at the sky in surprise when she felt something wet hit her head. More drops of water followed, and she shook her head when she realized it was raining.

Ellie unzipped the back pocket of her backpack, grabbing the jacket which she had shoved in before leaving. Joel looked back at her and stopped walking when he heard the commotion.

"What? It's raining," she stated as she put the jacket on, pulling the hood over her head for now.

She saw Tess glance over at Joel with a strange look on her face, which she was guessing it was something similar to "I told you so", which in turn seemed to make Joel somewhat angry.

_Wow, silent conversations,_ Ellie thought as they started to walk again, _those two must really know each other._

Ellie hated the silence; even though Joel wasn't much of a conversationalist, she knew that they talked a lot more in the past few days they had been together.

"Are there any more quarantine zones in New York?" Ellie asked, wanting something to talk about, "Besides the one we were just in, I mean."

Joel glanced back at her for a moment before answering.

"The military tried to establish one near the capitol of the city, but they weren't able to," he answered, making another question pop into her mind.

"What stopped them?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Probably the Infected," Joel answered, shrugging, "not much news comes from New York, especially where the capitol used to be, but that would be the best guess."

"Great," Ellie muttered sarcastically, feeling her mood sour, "The last time was bad enough."

She saw Joel shake his head, and his words came back to her, making her wish there was some way the Infected could just disappear.

Ellie shook her head and increased her pace, catching up with Joel a bit.

"What was the capitol like?" Ellie asked, glancing over at him.

"I never went there myself before the infection spread," Joel answered with a sigh and Ellie thought he was going to stop, "but it was supposed to be one of the busiest cities in the country."

"Did you ever want to go there?" Ellie asked, wondering if she was intruding too much.

"I never really thought about it. Some part of me wanted to, but the other part was content where I was," Joel answered, staring up at the sky.

_What happened to make you this way?_ She wondered, repeating the question to herself from the other day.

If Joel was going to say anymore, it was cut off by a glance from Tess. Ellie then felt her mood sour again, feeling as if she wanted to punch their newest 'companion' for ruining a learning moment.

Joel's mood also seemed to sour a bit; she saw him give Tess a hard stare while increasing his pace. Ellie increased her pace as well, catching up to him quickly.

"What is up with her? Did you two have a fight or something?" Ellie asked, and then regretted it when she saw Tess narrow her eyes.

"Something like that," Joel muttered, noticing the action as well.

Ellie shook her head when Joel stopped talking, wondering when they would be at the capitol.

_This would be a lot quicker if we weren't walking,_ she thought as she stared at the ground.

"When should we be getting to the capitol?" Ellie asked, trying not to phrase her question like the 'are we there yet?' question that she heard most kids had asked often before the pandemic.

"Around sunset," Joel stated, "we are going to walk through the capitol tonight, if nothing interrupts us."

Ellie found herself wanting to ask "What's the rush?", but sighed when she remembered that Joel was only traveling with her temporarily. Once they got to the Fireflies, he would hand her over and that would most likely be the last time she saw him.

_Would he rather be traveling with Tess, or me?_ She found herself instantly wondering, making her shake her head in slight disgust. They were only going to travel together until they got to the Fireflies, so why form attachments.

"I do not have trust issues," Ellie muttered, remembering to a time around a year ago when someone from the boarding school she had been staying at told her that.

Joel glanced at her with a somewhat amused and curious expression on her face, which caused her to shake her head. She heard him sigh a bit.

_You don't tell me about your past, and I won't tell you about mine,_ she thought as she glared at the ground.

The rest of the day resulted of walking, with more silence and less questions. Ellie was running out of energy and stuff to think of when Joel tapped her on the shoulder.

"We're here," he stated, and she thought with annoyance that he could sense her lack of energy.

She saw Tess staring at her and instead went to glancing at their current surroundings. Tall buildings surrounded them, some of them being taken over by foliage, others having holes and being slightly crumbled.

She narrowed her eyes through the rain to try and see better, resulting in the discovery of rusted metal fences being seen.

"I see what you mean when you said that they tried to make a quarantine zone," Ellie stated, but Joel didn't respond, making her somewhat angry.

She turned around and saw that both Tess and Joel were already starting to walk towards one of the buildings.

_Already forgetting someone?_ She thought angrily as she followed after them.

Ellie followed Joel in through an open door, noticing the extreme darkness. She heard rustling and saw Joel reaching for something in his backpack; a moment later she saw a beam of light and figured that he had pulled out his flashlight.

Another beam of light followed and Ellie glanced over to see that Tess had a flashlight as well.

She wanted to say something, but Joel glanced over at her the moment she was going to, making her shut her mouth.

Ellie glanced around the room, which was by now slightly lit with the flashlights. It seemed to be mostly empty, except for a few pieces of furniture.

She saw Joel walk over to a desk, opening it and pulling something out. She couldn't see it quite well and started to walk towards him when he placed it into his backpack.

Joel then walked over towards a door, opening it quietly and motioning for them to walk through.

They now found themselves in a kind of hallway, and Ellie plugged her nose when she smelled a familiar scent. She saw Joel walk a few paces; his flashlight shining on a dead body slumped against the wall.

_There are too many dead bodies,_ Ellie thought with sadness and slight disgust as they continued along the hallway.

She saw Joel open another door, this time near a stairway. She glanced through the door and saw that this room was mostly covered in vegetation.

Ellie figured that it wasn't worth it to go into this room, but stopped when she saw Joel pick another one of the objects off of a table.

_What is he finding?_ She wondered as they exited the room, feeling slightly confused.

She followed behind Joel up the stairs, seeing another dead body at the midway section. Joel leaned down to pick another one of the objects up, and it was then that she realized he was picking up ammo.

_Probably from the people,_ she thought as they passed the body.

Joel stopped outside of another door, this one already open, and checked inside. When the coast seemed clear, they moved into the room.

Another stench assaulted Ellie's nose, and even though this one was similar to the dead bodies, it was much worse.

This time the flashlight was aimed at something that Ellie thought could have been human at one time, but the closer she got towards it, the more it looked like…

_An Infected,_ Ellie thought as she got closer, _but it's dead, and not in the normal way._

Mushroom-like growths covered the Infected, and she realized that the growths also were growing along the wall.

She glanced over at Joel and saw that he was staring at it as well. She was about to suggest trying to find a different way when Joel walked up towards the body and gripped it, pulling it off of the door.

Ellie was about to ask Joel if that was a smart idea, but stopped when dust-like particles came near her face. She breathed in, coughing a moment later.

She bit her lip when Joel stared back at her, a questioning look on his face.

"Dust," she muttered, which didn't make his questioning look go away.

Luckily, she heard him sigh before moving on. Tess followed right behind him.

Ellie started to walk through the door, but stopped when her vision started to swim. She clutched her head as Tess and Joel's forms started to blur.

_No, I am not fainting here! Not in front of Joel, and especially not in front of Tess!_ She thought as she started to follow, trying to ignore the pounding in her head.

Through her slightly blurred vision, Ellie saw Joel and Tess moving throughout the room, as well as something small and gray in the corner. She shook her head, not wanting to find out what whatever she saw was.

She saw Joel disappear after crawling over something, and she soon followed, not wanting to get left behind.

What she saw this time looked similar to an office where people would work. She had read about it once while in one of the boarding houses.

_So many rooms,_ she thought and then cringed when she tried to make a map in her head, which only served to make her head hurt more.

Making virtual maps in her head had always been helpful; made a place seem less intimidating. It wasn't working this time.

She glanced over at a window to see the rain coming down hard.

Ellie had also read a book on natural disasters once, and she vaguely remembered one pertaining to large amounts of water: a flood. She hoped the building wouldn't get flood because that would make getting out of it harder.

Ellie looked over when she heard a sound, and saw that Joel was trying to shove another door open. She started to walk over, wondering what was blocking the door from opening.

Joel motioned to Tess, and the two of them started to shove against the door. Just when Ellie was wondering if she should help as well, the door gave way and Joel somewhat fell through from the force.

She was going to laugh and tell him that she wasn't the only one who tripped through doors when she heard a clicking noise that made her freeze.

Tess shouted something while pointing and a moment later a figure lunged at Joel. Ellie started to run towards him when she saw that Joel was on the ground wrestling with the Infected, but stopped when Tess kicked it off of him and shot the Infected in the head.

Joel stood up as Ellie leaned against the doorframe, partially from not feeling well and partially to not stare at the sight of the dead Infected.

When Ellie opened her eyes again, Joel and Tess were already in the other room.

Walking after them, she came upon two scenes; one, another dead body- this time she couldn't identify if it was human or Infected- and two, Joel helping Tess up the wall.

Ellie didn't know what to make of the scene; she figured that the only reason for this might be that she had been lagging behind and Tess had gotten to the wall first.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy; Joel was traveling with her, not Tess.

A thought nagged at her mind as she walked up to them: _What if she is traveling with us for good?_

Ellie frowned a bit, not liking the idea. As she saw Joel start to turn around, her side started hurting and she started to have trouble breathing.

_What is wrong with me?_ She wondered as she stared ahead, spacing out a bit. She felt a tap on her shoulder, jolting her back to reality.

"Head on up," Joel said as he pointed to the wall and where Tess was waiting, "I'll look out for anyone."

Ellie nodded, half listening. She walked up to the wall and grabbed Tess's hand, who then pulled her up while her feet scrambled to catch hold of something.

Ellie held her side for a moment when she stood up, watching Tess now pull Joel up the ledge. It all made sense now; why Joel helped Tess up first. Ellie realized it would have been hard to help Tess up if she would have gone first, let alone Joel.

_That has to be it,_ she thought, _or is it simply that Joel likes traveling with her better?_

Ellie was ripped from her thoughts by Tess grabbing her arm, dragging her into another room with Joel behind them. She was confused for a moment by the action, but ducked behind some cabinets when she heard the clicking noise again.

_More Infected,_ she thought as she held her breath, hearing the clicking noises start to get a bit distant.

Ellie glanced over at Tess and saw her pick up something, throwing it a moment later. The clicking noises resumed as they snuck along the edge of the cabinets to ones further across the room, and she caught a glimpse of the Infected walking towards whatever Tess had thrown.

They repeated the process, and soon Ellie was climbing up a railing and over to the other side. She glanced behind her and saw Joel climbing over the railing as well. She followed Tess out a broken window and onto an unsteady walkway outside of the building.

"That's a long drop," Ellie said as she glanced down at how far above ground they were.

"Then don't fall," Tess answered, making Ellie want to glare at her. She was about to but felt the walkway beneath her move.

She glanced back at the source of the movement: Joel, who was slowly making his way across towards them.

Ellie shook her head and climbed up to the next section, inching her way behind Tess over towards another broken window. She walked inside and found herself near another stairway, this one being blocked.

Joel walked past them and jumped down into the bottom section of the stairway. She saw him start to pull on a drawer that was blocking their path.

Ellie walked over towards the railing behind Tess. Joel motioned for them to move and she jumped down over the railing. She saw Joel climb over the drawer behind them.

Joel continued to walk down the stairs, and Ellie followed him into another room.

Her head tilted to the side when she heard what sounded to be a person in pain. She glanced over at Tess and saw her eyes widen.

"Hide!" Joel whispered and she followed Tess and hid behind a desk.

Glancing over and expecting Joel to follow them, she was surprised to find that he was sneaking towards the noise. She started to move away from the desk, but felt Tess's hand on her shoulder.

Ellie felt anxious as she watched Joel round a corner, blocking him from her view. She was about to say something to Tess when she heard the sounds of a struggle, the human noises protesting before falling silent.

Her eyes widened when she heard clicking noises now, and she saw Joel come back around the corner with a brick in his hand.

A moment later she heard the brick hit the floor some distance away, and peeked out from behind the desk to see the Infected running towards it. Tess pulled her back underneath the desk, obscuring her view. Another moment passed and she heard more sounds of struggles, as well as two gunshots.

Ellie glanced out to see a clicker starting to walk towards where the gunshots were heard, which was where she guessed Joel was. She narrowed her eyes, seeing a form in the distance that _did_ look like Joel.

"He's in trouble," she whispered, and Tess touched her on the shoulder again as a warning.

"Don't," she whispered her command, and Ellie felt her temper start to rise.

"Do you want him to die?!" she questioned, but then covered her mouth when she realized how loud she had talked.

Tess gave her a hard stare and looked like she was about to say something, but both of them froze when they heard the clicking noise starting to come their way.

"Oh sh-!" Ellie started to say out of instinct when she saw the clicker, but stopped when Tess's hand went over her mouth.

The clicker froze and looked their way, making Ellie want to throw up when she saw its face, or what was left of it after the fungus. The clicker seemed to stop, opening its mouth almost like it was smelling the air.

Ellie glanced down at her hands, remembering the injuries that she had gotten from the first few days with Joel, and saw that they were almost healed. Glancing over at Tess, she didn't see any visible injuries.

_How can it sense us, if we don't have any injuries?_ Ellie wondered as she stared silently at the clicker, hoping it wouldn't know they are there.

The clicker started to walk forward, more sure of itself this time, and Ellie pulled her switchblade from her pocket. She heard the click of a gun behind her, making her aware of Tess's weapon.

The clicker started to run towards them with what Ellie thought was major inhuman speed, and both Tess and her stood up.

A gunshot rang out, making Ellie glance back at Tess after the Infected fell to the ground, a bullet hole in its head. Tess had a look of relief on her face as she stared at something, and Ellie followed her gaze, seeing Joel as he walked over towards them.

"I sometimes wish you would learn to keep your mouth shut more often," Joel stated angrily and Ellie knew he was talking to her.

"Sorry, but you were in trouble," Ellie replied, not looking at him. She was starting to feel sick again; this time heat was spreading through her similar to when the temporary vaccine had gotten into her cuts.

"You guys can argue about this later, but I think we should get going before more of those things show up," Tess interrupted as she started to walk towards another door.

Ellie was thankful this time that it was a door to the outside; the rain on her skin seemed to make her feel somewhat better.

"Where do we go now?" Ellie asked, feeling tired of walking and being sick. She personally could not understand what had made her feel unwell, aside from when she breathed in that dust…

"I have someone that can help us out," Tess answered, and Ellie didn't miss the questioning glance that Joel gave her, which made her continue, "Let's say he owes me a few favors."

Ellie would have said something, but her head started to swim again. She held it for a moment until the pounding lessoned, and then looked up to see Joel giving her a somewhat concerned look.

"I'm fine," she answered as she started to walk past them, away from the building, "Let's just get going."

Joel caught up to her in no time, but said nothing else pertaining to what had happened a few moments ago. Tess was leading now, and Ellie didn't feel much like talking anymore, so the trip was silent.

She tried to find things to occupy herself with, such as watching the rain that was slowly starting to diminish, or trying to make a map of the city in her mind, but anything she tried to do only intensified her headache. She personally just felt like sleeping, despite where they were.

Joel shook her shoulder after a while, and she looked up at him, seeing that same concerned look in his eyes.

"We're here," Joel said, but by the way he said it Ellie thought he was going to add 'apparently' to the end of it.

She looked around and realized that they were near a house, and one that was in a lot better shape than the few she had seen for the past few days.

Tess walked up to the door and opened it, making Ellie peer inside to see two middle-aged men sitting in a room, both dozing. She tilted her head in confusion at the sight.

At the sound of the door opening, the two men looked over with startled looks on their faces. One of them turned angry quickly.

"Tess, what are you-?" one man started to yell, but was cut off when he spotted Joel and Ellie.

"We need some place to stay for the night, as well as a few other things," Tess explained as she motioned for them to walk into the house; Joel closed the door behind them, and Ellie had the urge to either sit down or hide behind Joel. She didn't like the presence of two other people she didn't know.

"You could have at least contacted us first," the other man said from across the room, still half asleep.

"That's beside the point," the man who first spoke stated, but stopped when Tess gave him a look.

"You owe me," Tess stated simply, and both men shut up instantly.

Tess motioned for them to follow her and led them into a spare room. Ellie instantly lied down on the ground, pressing her head against the floor and finding it surprisingly cold.

"We can stay here for the night," Tess was explaining to Joel, "I'm going to have a little chat with those two out there."

She assumed Joel nodded because she heard footsteps leaving the room and then silence.

Ellie could tell the door was partially open because some of the conversation drifted towards them. She didn't really pay attention for most of the conversation, but some part of it she could understand.

"Just help them out, ok?" Tess's voice floated through the crack in the door, "I know it seems crazy, but Joel's determined to do this."

Some more words were exchanged before Ellie heard footsteps moving throughout the house.

"Oh, and if you try anything, you will have to deal with me," Tess's voice said sternly, and then a pause, "and a very angry Joel."

Ellie groaned as the pounding worsened, making her unable to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Joel, can you close the door?" she asked, and she heard him get up after a moment's hesitation. She felt somewhat bad when she realized he thought she had been sleeping.

Ellie turned herself so that she was lying on her side, facing the wall. She would have normally talked a bit before going to sleep, but tonight she didn't feel like it. She knew Joel would have questions in the morning, something that was uncommon, but she didn't care right then. All she cared about was sleeping.

* * *

Ok, so through this chapter, I have figured out that it is harder for me to write Joel than it is for me to write Ellie. I have no idea what the problem is, but it's just harder. I guess that would be my main reason for not updating sooner, as well as having some form of writer's block. This is an accomplishment though, since this is the longest chapter for this fanfiction so far (and possibly longer than all my other fanfiction chapters): 31 pages in Microsoft Word! Yay! That made me happy (plus the fact that I pre-order the Last of Us already)! Some insane part of my mind wants me to finish this fanfiction before the game comes out, or at least the journey part of this, but we will see where this goes. Also, Joel and Ellie do eat in this fanfiction; I just haven't really mentioned it that often (or maybe not at all). I will have some instances soon that will involve them eating though. Either way, please tell me any thoughts or ideas (or how I did with Joel's POV) in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	6. Back to Traveling

**NineJulySkies:** Haha, funny story is that I wanted to pre-order the survival edition, but the place I pre-ordered at ran out for pre-ordering it (didn't make much sense, but I figured that the original copy of the game was better than no game). And I haven't read the Game Informer magazine. Is it the one from 2012? I know that I have a subscription from being a member at GameStop, but I think I didn't get that one. Any place you can recommend finding it?

* * *

Chapter 6: Back to Traveling

Joel woke up early in the morning and figured that it was time to keep moving. One glance at Ellie still sleeping made him reconsider though.

_I'll wake her when it's time to go,_ he decided as he exited the room.

Joel had noticed that Ellie hadn't acting like herself the night before. Still asking questions, but he had noticed her energy rapidly running out. That could still be caused by her not having to travel so far before, but he really didn't know.

_It all seemed to start with her coughing,_ Joel thought as he shook his head,_ better start to get ready._

"You're up early," he heard Tess say as he closed the door to the room. He turned around to see her leaning against the wall.

"Getting up at this time has been routine for the past twenty years," he commented, walking away from the door so that they wouldn't wake Ellie up.

"Either way, it's good that you're up," Tess said and when Joel gave her a questioning look continued, "my two 'friends' want to talk to you about supplies."

Joel nodded, walking into the other room with Tess right behind him.

"So, how much do these guys owe you?" Joel questioned as he glanced at her.

"Let's just say that they owe me a lot," Tess answered, smiling a bit.

Joel almost felt sorry for the two men; they probably hadn't known what they had gotten themselves into with Tess.

Joel glanced over and realized that the two men Tess mentioned were sitting in what could have been a living room in the house. He saw Tess nod her head towards the back door leading outside, and one of the men stood up.

"I'm going," the man insisted as he walked out the door, and Joel guessed it was to get something that Tess wanted. She followed the man outside, leaving Joel with the other one.

Joel glanced back at the man and saw that he was giving him a calculating look.

"Tess mentioned that you would need some things," the man said after a moment, making Joel sigh as he sat down.

"Look, we just need a few simple supplies and then we will be on our way," Joel said, leaning forward in his chair.

The man nodded and Joel felt that it was the end to their conversation. He got up and started to leave the room, but stopped when he heard the man's voice.

"I reckon this is about that girl," the man said and continued when Joel didn't answer for a moment, "Look I can understand if she's your daughter-"

Joel cut him off quickly.

"She's not my daughter," he stated, biting his lip a bit.

_Maybe Tess forgot to mention that he is half blind,_ Joel thought as he walked towards the room where Ellie was sleeping, _Ellie and I look nothing alike._

Joel opened the door and was inwardly surprised to see Ellie moving about the room.

"Hi," she greeted as she grabbed her backpack, "Are we leaving?"

"Soon," Joel nodded, "We just need to grab a few things. I have a feeling Tess has something to give us outside."

"Can I go look?" Ellie asked and, at his nod, ran out the door to the room.

Joel frowned slightly, thinking over what had just happened. Ellie had been smiling at him but, as he knew from experience, it seemed fake.

_She's hiding something,_ Joel thought with a sigh as he exited the room, figuring he had better head outside to make sure she didn't get into trouble.

Joel walked outside and found Ellie standing near two horses, each packed with supplies. He saw Tess on his way over and gave her a questioning glance.

"They had a few spares," Tess explained, motioning to the horses, making Joel wonder how that was possible. He shook his head as he walked towards the horses.

Ellie looked back at him with a bewildered look that made him want to laugh.

"What?" he questioned as her look continued.

"These are horses," Ellie answered, making him somewhat glad he wouldn't have to explain that to her.

"Yes, and?" he continued, wondering where she was going with this.

"How in the world did they get horses in the middle of this?" Ellie asked, motioning to their surroundings.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Joel answered, wanting to laugh again.

He walked over towards Tess while Ellie was trying to figure out how to get into the horse's somewhat oversized saddle.

"Thanks," Joel said and at her nod continued, "So I guess I owe you now?"

Tess laughed at his statement, and Joel saw Ellie glance over at them.

"Maybe," Tess started, "but I did owe you though."

Joel felt confusion run through him, wondering what she owed him for. Whatever it was, he couldn't remember.

"What did I-?" he started to ask, but Tess cut him off.

"You'd better get going," she said as she pushed him towards the horses, "You have a long trip through Pennsylvania."

He glanced back at her and started to say something, but stopped when he heard Ellie shout at him.

"I made it!" Ellie shouted excitedly while sitting on top of the saddle, waving her hand at him. This time a real smile was on her face.

Both Joel and Tess laughed; and he did believe that this was Ellie's first time riding a horse.

_Not many of those after the infection,_ Joel thought as he started to walk towards her, _let's hope that doesn't slow us down._

"Better make sure she doesn't fall off," he said to Tess, and then laughed when Ellie gave him an angry look.

"Fall off?" she asked, "I'm doing just fine."

Her face turned to one of uncertainty when he saw the saddle move a bit and Ellie went tilting towards the side again.

Joel quickly ran up and steadied the saddle, tightening it a bit more so she wouldn't have as hard of a time.

"See? I'm ok," Ellie said with a bit of a smile, making him want to laugh.

"Sure you are," he said, making her give him an angry look again.

Joel glanced back towards the opposite direction to see Tess riding on a horse, heading back through the capital and to Boston.

_Maybe I'll see her when I get back to Boston,_ Joel thought as he got on his horse, _but first I need to get Ellie to California._

After showing Ellie the basics of horse riding, both of them set off; this time accompanied by the sound of horse hooves.

They rode a bit in silence, and Joel wondered if Ellie was still feeling unwell. One glance at her though made him think otherwise, and some part of him was relieved.

"Should we name them?" Ellie's question came out of nowhere, making him glance at her in bewilderment.

"Name what?" he asked, and she laughed.

"The horses," she said and at his questioning look continued, "I read in a book once that people used to keep pets for animals and named them."

Joel shook his head with an amused look on his face.

"You can name yours," Joel said, "but don't come crying to me if it gets killed."

"And why would I start crying?" she asked angrily, giving him a glare.

"Most of the time, naming something makes you bond with it," Joel answered and at her bewildered look continued, "It's like if you didn't have a name, then I wouldn't really care for you as much."

"Hey!" Ellie retorted, but then started to laugh, "The same goes for you!"

He let a laugh slip at her childish behavior.

"How do you know her?" Ellie asked after a while. He glanced back at her.

"Who, Tess?" Joel asked and at her nod continued, "Let's just say I met her a while ago. We have the same occupation."

At the word 'occupation' he saw Ellie bite her lip in discomfort. He wondered why, but didn't ask.

"So, did you know those other guys?" she asked after a bit, and he shook his head.

"No, I've never seen them before," Joel answered, "but they seemed to owe Tess more than I thought."

"A lot," Ellie agreed with a laugh, but he could still feel a rift between them.

Silence followed their conversation, and Joel passed the time by planning for the days ahead and making sure Ellie didn't stray too far behind.

He knew she had firmly told him she didn't need to be babysat, to which he agreed, but he knew it was possible for her to get lost.

Between his glances, he saw her eyes flicker with different emotions: discomfort, worry, sadness, and something else he couldn't identify.

_There is definitely something wrong,_ he thought, knowing that if he asked her straight-forwardly that she wouldn't tell him.

"You feel any better?" Joel asked, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"A lot actually," Ellie said with a nod, and he could tell that her mind was someplace else when she didn't answer.

_At least I tried,_ he thought with a sigh, focusing instead on the trip ahead.

* * *

This chapter was a bit shorter, and to tell you the truth I hadn't really thought of doing Joel's POV for the whole time; although there is a reason that I left it off here (hint: something important to the story is going to happen next chapter). I don't really like Tess that much (although I think that she is important for the beginning of the game), but I don't know if I am going to include her in the fanfiction anymore. Sorry for anyone who likes her (she just confuses me in Ellie's POV, I guess you would say), but I want this fanfiction to focus more on Joel and Ellie's growing 'father-daughter' relationship. Also, about what I said in chapter 3's author's note (I think) about when I said that Ellie had not seen an Infected before, let's say that she does not remember seeing one before (important for later and her made up backstory). Either way, please tell me if I improved for Joel, as well as any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	7. Separation

Chapter 7: Separation

"Joel!" Ellie shouted, coughing again as she breathed in smoke.

Red flames dotted across her vision, that accompanied with the smoke made it hard to see.

"Joel!" she shouted again, glancing around frantically when she didn't see or hear him.

"Over there!" she heard an unfamiliar but hostile voice shout.

_They're coming,_ Ellie realized with fear as her eyes widened.

She tried to move but felt the weight of the dead horse weighing down her legs. She reached for the switchblade in her pocket and started to cut through the flesh, making her pants start to stain red.

"Sorry," she muttered at the horse's body, feeling some relief that it couldn't feel what she was doing.

Ellie heard the shouts getting louder, making her cut quicker.

A pain-filled noise left her mouth when she felt the switchblade make a cut in her ankle; she hadn't really been focusing where she had been cutting the flesh.

_Not good,_ she thought as she bit her lip, wondering where in the world Joel was at a time like this.

Ellie felt the weight of the horse lift off of her and glanced down quickly to see that her legs were free. She quickly scrambled away from the horse's body, away from the noises, and into the opposite direction.

* * *

**1 hour ago**

Ellie's thoughts had been preoccupied by the events of the morning so far. She had woken up to the sound of voices; one was Joel's and the other was one of the stranger's.

She had gotten up and walked over to the door, wondering if she should stay inside the room. She didn't really feel trust towards the strangers, and didn't think that she ever would.

Ellie could tell by their tones that it was a short conversation, and as she heard footsteps start to move throughout the house, the conversation picked up again. She listened in, feeling surprise and sadness when she heard Joel's voice.

"She's not my daughter," the voice said, and Ellie could guess there was some anger in it.

She frowned and stood where she was, trying to think.

_Why am I so upset?_ She wondered as she stared at the door, _He's not my father, so it makes sense that I'm not his daughter._

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming towards the door, and she had quickly scrambled to grab her backpack.

Joel had come into the room, and she hadn't missed his surprised expression.

Ellie sighed, listening to the horse's hooves as she thought. She saw Joel glance back at her several times, but she wasn't in the mood for conversation at the time.

"You feel any better?" Joel's question startled her a bit.

_Why should you care?_ She thought angrily, but looked at the horse's back instead.

"A lot actually," she answered, not looking at him. She heard him sigh and felt somewhat bad for making him worry.

_Is he worrying?_ She wondered, still feeling somewhat angry and confused, _or is he just worried his 'cargo' will get terminated?_

Ellie still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was paying Joel to take her to the Fireflies, and that Joel hadn't been asked, but had some motivation behind it.

She had been lied to enough to know not to accept everything someone told you.

Ellie shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order. When she thought they were at least in something like a makeshift sling, she started to try and make a map of where they had been, and where they were now traveling.

By the time she was done, she only had half of a map because of her wandering thoughts. She felt like her mind was going to crumble, and that would be bad.

_I don't like it when my emotions go haywire,_ Ellie thought; _I guess that's normal for people my age; at least for 'normal' teenagers, but not for me._

She shook her head, trying to get her train of thought on something else, but it wasn't working.

_Am I the way I am because of where and when I grew up, or is this just normal for me?_ She wondered, resisting the urge to ask Joel, _He probably was normal like them, not like me. He couldn't tell me the answer._

_ I haven't lost it yet, not since…_ her train of thought was cut off when her horse neighed loudly, starting to feel frantic beneath her.

Joel glanced back at her and then at their surroundings, probably thinking that something spooked the horse.

_Horses can sense emotions,_ Ellie thought with a sigh, _keep the emotions in check, and your mind clear._

The horse settled down after that, continuing at a walk while following Joel's horse.

Ellie kept catching herself glancing behind them every few minutes to see if Tess was following them.

_Of course she isn't,_ Ellie thought feeling annoyed at herself, _you saw her ride towards Boston. She could have always come back around._

She bit her lip in frustration; obviously she was not doing a good job of keeping her emotions in check, and instead they were all coming out one by one.

_Does Joel even have emotions?_ Ellie wondered but then sighed, knowing this was one of the questions that came from her disoriented mind.

"Is there any specific place that we are going in Pennsylvania?" Ellie asked, trying to make the time go by quicker.

"The quickest route would be to go through Pittsburgh and into Ohio possibly, but it depends on a few factors," Joel answered, and her head tilted to the side in confusion.

"Factors?" she questioned, hearing Joel sigh.

"Last I heard was that Pittsburgh was slightly flooded," he explained, "that might slow us down, especially with the horses, but if we can avoid it somehow, it might save us some time."

Ellie nodded, understanding a bit of what he was saying.

_If only horses could walk on water,_ Ellie thought with a sigh, some part of her getting frustrated with her train of thought.

"Have your thoughts ever been out of order?" she asked with a sigh, and saw a flash of surprise run across Joel's face.

"Yeah, why?" he asked, and she looked away from him.

"I kind of feel like that now," she answered, feeling like what she was saying was an understatement.

"About what?" Joel asked, and she sighed, feeling somewhat annoyed. She had brought this on herself, and knew that he was only trying to help, but she didn't answer.

She heard Joel sigh, but didn't feel any sadness this time. If she didn't feel like talking about it, then she didn't have to.

"Cities like Pittsburgh used to have something called football games," Joel said out of nowhere, surprising her, "ever read about one of those?"

"A bit," she answered, nodding her head.

Some part of her was curious of where he was going with this.

"People would sit in their backyards, barbecuing, while watching the game," Joel said, making a question pop into her head.

"How did they watch it?" Ellie asked, curious since he was actually talking about something from before she was born for once, "It wasn't like there was a game going on in all of their backyards, was it?"

"No, but they watched them on televisions," Joel said, making her laugh at how dumb she realized her question had been.

"Do you think they still have football games on TV anymore?" Ellie asked, and then realized it was another dumb question.

Joel glanced back at her, probably thinking the same thing she was, but didn't comment on it.

"Possibly," he answered, "although nothing really airs anymore."

"There's no place for it to," she added, realizing that something like football games was probably just a fantasy to most people now; as much as unicorns and fairies had been before the pandemic.

Joel stopped his horse all of a sudden, making Ellie almost fall off of hers.

"What-?" she started to ask, but was silenced by Joel.

She glanced around, and her head tilted to the side in confusion when she heard sounds of something moving other than them.

"Maybe it's just-" she started to guess, but again was cut off by Joel.

"_Be quiet!"_ he hissed quickly, making her get angry.

"I was going to say that it was probably Tess, and that it was a good guess since you like traveling with her better!" Ellie stated angrily, making an angry yet confused expression come onto Joel's face.

"Who ever said I liked traveling with Tess better?" he asked, and Ellie regretted saying it in the first place. She could feel another fight coming.

"You did," she stated quickly out of anger, trying to get her horse to move out of his range. She started to walk it in a different direction.

"When did I say that?" Joel asked, following her.

They were completely off course by now. Ellie could hear the confusion in his voice.

"I don't know, I just know that you said it," she retorted, feeling confusion mix in with her anger.

"This is not working," Joel stated, making her bite her lip.

"What's not working?" she asked, feeling fear start to take over her anger a bit.

"Every time something you don't like comes up, you just decide to inform me of it," Joel stated angrily, "and trust me, it's getting somewhat annoying."

Ellie bit hard into her lip, feeling blood coat her tongue as she felt like crying. She was about to say something when a gunshot rang out, and her horse fell to the side, knocking her down.

Her legs were pinned under the weight of the horse as fire spread around them.

"Ellie, run!" Joel shouted instinctively and then apparently noticed that she couldn't. He bent down to help her, but then she felt something sharp hit the back of her head, making her world turn black.

When she looked again, Joel was gone.

* * *

Ellie panted as she continued to run, leaving behind the horse's body and all of their new supplies as she held onto her backpack.

The stinging in her head and leg was making it hard to move, and she felt dizzy from blood loss.

Her switchblade came instinctively from her pocket, and she glanced about through her foggy mind for anything that moved; anything that could be a threat.

She continued to run, and after a while heard thunder in the distance. A moment later, she felt rain start to fall.

Ellie glanced around frantically, knowing that it was not safe to be in the open. She ran a bit more before tripping on a tree root, falling face first into the leaves.

Her mind felt in a daze, and Ellie was sure this time that her mind was falling apart.

_Got to get somewhere,_ she thought as she got up and started to walk wearily towards a hollow log,_ anywhere safe._

She crawled inside of the log, pulling her knees to support her head as she sat, staring out at the rain falling. Her mind was out of order again.

_It's going to be ok, even though you are alone, you have done this before,_ Ellie thought as her mind sped backwards, freaking her out when a realization dawned on her, _but not alone. Not out here. In the quarantine zone, yes, but not alone out here. Last time I had…_

She jolted when she heard thunder and saw the sky light up with lightning, making her crawl to the back of the hollow tree in fear.

_What if Joel left me?_ She thought as she felt tears threatening to fall, _I've been really slow, and then we fought._

"What if he went back to Boston with Tess?" she whispered out loud, feeling her heart hammering in her chest.

"He wouldn't leave, he said that he promised to get me to the Fireflies," Ellie stated out loud, trying to keep herself calm. Some part of her mind resisted.

_But what if he was paid to bring me there after all? What if all I was to him was cargo? Would he really leave if he had no incentive?_ Her mind thought, making her bury her head against her knees.

_Joel, where are you?_ Ellie thought sadly as the rain continued, matching her own feelings of despair and sadness.

* * *

So, this chapter was in Ellie's POV and we now know that they are separated. So what do you think? Would Joel actually leave her, heading back to Boston? Or did he get caught by the hostile group that attacked them? Please tell me any comments or ideas in a review! (Also, I would really like to know if you would want me to name the chapters from here on out as a summary of each)

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	8. Back Together

**NineJulySkies:** Thanks for the information! It was very helpful!

* * *

Chapter 8: Back Together

Joel muttered something quickly when he saw Ellie pass out.

_Great, just what we need, _he thought angrily as he tried to get her loose from underneath the horse.

They were running out of time. Joel heard voices just beyond the cover of the trees. He glanced down at Ellie for a moment and then at the angle of where the voices were coming from.

_They shouldn't be able to see her,_ he thought as he ran a few feet away, grabbing his pistol, _not unless she makes noise._

He heard the shouts getting louder, and then saw a group of ravaged men walked from the trees; some of them dressed in robes with a hood covering their faces.

_Hunters,_ Joel realized as he peeked out from behind a grove of trees, _definitely not good._

He glanced at Ellie, feeling fear and worry shoot through him. It would be bad if the hunters found her, and he knew the horrors of what they could do.

_Never again,_ Joel thought as he loaded his pistol, taking aim at one of the men.

His finger never made it to the trigger. He was suddenly pulled backwards by a thick arm around his neck, blocking off most of his airway.

His assailant pulled him away from the trees.

"We've got a straggler!" the man shouted to the rest of the group, and they came over to investigate.

The group was smaller than he thought and consisted of four men; one of them held a bow and Joel knew he was skilled at using it.

_If I try and run, they'll shoot me down before I get anywhere,_ he thought and then stole a glance near the clearing, _and I can't just leave Ellie._

The men started to say mocking things- he could tell by their tone of voice- but Joel couldn't understand them with the darkness that was coming from lack of air.

"Joel!" Ellie's voice cut through his consciousness, making him angry when the group looked towards the clearing.

"Joel!" he heard her yell again, and realized how much her voice was filled with fear.

The hunters looked with interest at where her voice was coming from.

"Ellie, why can't you just stay quiet for once," he muttered, realizing his mistake a moment later.

"He must have a friend," another man said, and Joel saw the archer look towards the clearing.

The man started to walk towards Ellie's voice, shouting "Over here!"

Joel could tell that the archer was trying to take advantage of Ellie's confusion; make her come towards them.

_She's trapped either way,_ Joel thought, _and they're stupid if they think she'll fall for that._

"Ellie, run!" he tried to shout, but the grip around his neck tightened, making the darkness around the edges of his vision increase.

"Keep him here," the leader of the group ordered, "We'll find the girl."

Three of the men walked towards Ellie's location, making Joel start to struggle in the man's grip.

"Leave her alone," he hissed, feeling some anger and fear course through him.

The man looked like he was about to say something, but was stopped when Joel's fist connected with his temple, knocking him out.

Joel quickly ran behind some trees for cover, aiming with his pistol and taking two of the men down. The only one left was the archer.

The archer aimed an arrow at him, but it never left the bow. The man fell down towards the ground with a bullet in his head.

Joel stood still, panting a bit as adrenaline rushed through him, making him look for any more hunters. When he didn't see any, his stance relaxed and he quickly ran over to where Ellie was.

He was surprised when he saw that Ellie was no longer stuck under the horse; a huge and messy gash in its side and a blood trail leading into the forest.

"At least she managed to get out," Joel muttered, "Now the hard part is following her."

He knew that the blood trail would lead him towards Ellie, but worry nagged at him when he wasn't sure if the blood was the horse's or Ellie's.

_She'll be fine,_ he thought as he continued to follow the trail, _she's already proven that she can take care of herself for a while._

Joel swore quietly when he felt that it was starting to rain.

"Great, just perfect," he muttered, finding the blood trail harder to keep track of with the rain washing it away and the sky darkening.

He came to a condensed area of fallen trees and roots, finding that the blood trail stopped near some leaves.

Joel bent down to try and find anything else that would lead him towards Ellie, but found that the leaves had been washed clean of any other trail by the rain.

He sighed, feeling somewhat helpless.

_You have twenty years of experience, you should have something to go off of, _Joel thought but then shook his head, taking cover in a thick area of trees a few meters away.

_It'll be easier to find her in the morning,_ he thought, trying to not worry so much. Even so, he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night.

* * *

Ellie groaned as she woke up to an intense pain in her leg. She opened her eyes and found herself lying sideways against the inside of the hollow tree.

Her leg started to pull instantly towards her body to get up, but she winced when the pain got worse.

She curled herself into a ball and glanced down at her leg, seeing dry blood and red skin.

"Not good," she muttered, but stopped when she heard rustling in the leaves outside.

_They're back,_ Ellie thought with fear as she took out her switchblade.

She held her breath, hearing the rustling leaves stop as if the group was searching for her.

_You won't find me,_ Ellie thought, but a pained noise left her mouth as fire spread through her leg.

"No," Ellie whispered as she heard the rustling get louder, but she was then surprised to see Joel's face pop into the opening of the log.

"Ellie, when did you get in here?" Joel asked, and she saw relief and confusion on his face.

"Where were you?" she demanded angrily, feeling tears start to blur her vision, "You scared me half to death!"

"Got a little preoccupied with the group," Joel stated, and she nodded as she relaxed a bit.

_At least I know he didn't leave,_ Ellie thought with relief, putting her switchblade back into her pants pocket.

"Can you get out here?" Joel asked, and Ellie wondered if he had seen the condition of her leg yet, or if he was thinking she was stuck.

"I can try," she replied as she bent back to grab her backpack behind her, "Here!"

Ellie passed her backpack forward, and the only reply she got was a confused expression. She was glad he didn't ask.

She started to turn herself around, another noise leaving her mouth when her injury scraped against the hard bark of the tree.

Joel stared at her with a worried expression, making her feel bad that she couldn't hide her pain easier.

"Sorry," she muttered as she started to climb out of the tree, biting her lip as pain kept assaulting her.

When she was completely out of the hollow tree, she fell at the slight incline up to it. Her hands scraped against the ground, making her winced.

She positioned herself up against a tree, and heard Joel swear when he saw her leg.

"When did you get this?" he asked, grabbing gauze out of his backpack. She shook her head, slightly embarrassed by what she was going to say next.

"Wasn't watching where I was cutting," she muttered, wincing as Joel wrapped the gauze around her leg.

"We'll clean it when we get to a river," Joel stated, and she just nodded, making a worried expression come onto his face, "You ok?"

"As well as to be expected in this situation," Ellie forced out as Joel helped her up, letting her lean against him for support.

Her leg still felt like it was on fire, but it felt better since Joel had somewhat stemmed the bleeding.

"Who were they?" she asked, and then thought that she should probably have specified what she was meaning.

"Hunters," Joel said with a shake of his head when she was going to continue, "they prey on anyone traveling outside of the quarantine zones."

Ellie nodded, seeing the truth behind his words.

"Well, the longest I have ever ridden a horse is an hour," she said, as both of them laughed.

"We did lose our supplies though," she said a moment later, and Joel shook his head.

"We will hopefully find more," he stated, and Ellie could tell that behind his words that he was worried.

"At least we didn't lose these though," she said, motioning to their backpacks.

Joel nodded, but didn't say anything more, instead helping her try and walk.

_This is my fault. If I would have just shut up like Joel wanted me to, we wouldn't be in this mess,_ Ellie thought as she glanced over at him and sighed.

"Everything ok?" Joel asked when he heard her sigh. She shrugged.

"Not really," she muttered.

"How come?" Joel questioned, and she wanted to smack him for not realizing the obvious.

"We just lost nearly all of our supplies, and are back to walking on foot across the country," Ellie stated, staring at him.

"Yes, but in situations like these, we need to take what he have and find the best possible outcome," Joel explained, making Ellie glance down at her wrapped leg.

"Adapt," she muttered, "Sure, but all you've been doing is bandaging me up. Seems like I'm more trouble than I'm worth."

Ellie knew she was always getting into trouble, even back at the boarding schools. Although, no one really had paid attention to them back there, so they could intentionally get away with it until they were caught. Out here, she knew her mistakes could get them killed.

She heard Joel sigh, knowing he either didn't know how to respond, or he could possibly be agreeing with her.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Ellie," he said after a while.

"You don't," she said, glancing up at him. She heard him sigh again, and an expression she couldn't identify came onto his face.

"Even I make mistakes," Joel answered, and then continued, "Let's say that I've just been making them longer than you have."

Ellie felt curiosity enter her, but she tried to stem it; finding it somewhat rude if she would ask about his personal life again.

"What kind of mistakes?" she asked, trying not to offend him too much. She knew he didn't like talking about his past; she understood that much from personal experience.

"Not all mistakes are obvious," he explained, "some are only seen as mistakes through one pair of eyes, some are viewed as mistakes by dozens. I guess it just depends who was witness and what they thought."

Ellie nodded, a question forming in her mind. She bit her lip, trying to decide whether to ask it or not.

"Do you think us traveling together is a mistake?" she asked after a moment. A thoughtful expression appeared on Joel's face.

"Well, the answer could be different for both of us or the same," he explained, "Sometimes you have to wait till the end to decide that."

They walked for a while, and Ellie passed the time by looking at the forest around them. Most of it seemed the same, but she knew that if she looked close enough, she could find differences in each of the areas they passed.

Ellie's attention was drawn towards the sounds of another river. She glanced at Joel and knew he had already noticed it.

When they got close enough to the river, Joel helped her lean against the trunk of a tree, and she realized just then how much her leg hurt.

While Joel went to the river with a piece of gauze, Ellie rolled up her pants at the bottom of her leg. She quickly sucked in her breath in shock when she saw the condition of her leg; red flesh that was probably infected, and dried blood.

Ellie resisted the urge to throw up, knowing if she did that it would just cause another mess.

Joel came back with the gauze, now wet with water, and started to clean her leg. Ellie bit her lip, not sure if cleaning the cuts on her hand had been more or less painful.

When he was done washing her leg, Joel rewrapped it with gauze. Ellie had started to get up, but Joel stopped her.

"What?" she asked, "Shouldn't we keep going?"

"We can rest for a bit," Joel answered with a shake of his head. Ellie bit her lip, feeling like a burden.

"I can keep going," Ellie insisted, trying to ignore the flaming feeling in her leg. Joel gave her skeptical look.

"Not with your leg," he stated, and continued when she was going to protest, "It's better to rest periodically than to let it get worse later."

Ellie knew there was no use fighting with him; he was right after all. She leaned back against the tree, closing her eyes for a moment. A strange question came into her mind.

"Do you have a last name?" she asked, and the way Joel was looking at her made her want to laugh.

"Why?" he asked, and she knew he was somewhat guarded, maybe a bit shocked at her random question.

"Just wondering. I remember hearing that people used to have last names to identify what family they belonged to a long time ago," Ellie said, hoping to get an answer.

Joel didn't answer for a moment, and she started to feel impatient.

"Do you?" she asked again, provoking a sigh from Joel.

"Do you have a last name?" Joel repeated her question, this time aimed at her.

Ellie thought for a moment; she didn't remember ever having a last name, being born after the pandemic started after all.

"No, I don't think so," she answered, "I've only just ever been Ellie."

"There you have it then," Joel said as he motioned with his hand, making her somewhat disappointed.

"So you don't have a last name?" she questioned, frowning a bit.

Joel gave her a thoughtful look.

"I had one a while ago, but it's been a long time since it's been used," Joel answered, "It's not like anyone uses formalities anymore."

Ellie nodded, seeing the truth in what he was saying. She bit her lip, knowing he probably wouldn't like what she asked next.

"Can you tell me your last name?" she asked, and Joel gave her a look.

"Let me explain this to you," Joel said after a moment, "there are two types of questions that you ask: informational questions and annoying questions."

"Annoying," she repeated, feeling somewhat angry at him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Information questions are mostly self-explanatory by the name," Joel continued, "Annoying questions have different categories."

Ellie thought this was one of the dumbest things she had ever heard.

"Categories like?" she questioned, hoping he would explain and that where he was going was actually worth listening to.

"Questions about personal life, among other things," he stated, and Ellie sat there, thinking that Joel was making no sense.

"So, the only thing I learned from that is that you are self-conscious," Ellie stated, and then started to laugh at the look on Joel's face.

Joel sighed, but she could see him slightly smiling.

"Maybe I need to find a better way to explain that," Joel muttered, and Ellie nodded, still laughing.

Ellie had dozed a bit after that, and was woken up a while later by Joel gently shaking her shoulder. She realized it was getting dark.

"You all right to keep moving?" he asked as she started to stand up, grabbing her backpack.

She gently tested her weight on her leg, and even though it still hurt a bit, it wasn't as bad. She nodded.

"Where are we going this time?" Ellie asked, wondering if they were just going to walk the whole way across the country.

"I know someone who might be able to help us," Joel answered and at her amused look continued, "and his name is Bill."

Ellie tilted her head for a moment, thinking.

_So Unknown Friend #1 is still unknown, Unknown Friend #2 is Tess, and Unknown Friend #3 is Bill,_ she thought, wondering who the person was who had asked Joel to bring her to the Fireflies was.

"So Unknown Friend #3's name is Bill," Ellie muttered, then her eyes widened when she realized Joel had heard her.

"Unknown Friend #3?" Joel questioned, shaking his head with an amused expression on his face.

"I had to have something to call them!" Ellie stated, trying to defend herself while trying not to laugh, "You wouldn't tell me their names at first!"

This got both of them laughing, and Ellie realized she was putting them in danger with all of the noise.

She bit her lip, trying to be quieter.

"We can walk longer since we took that break," Ellie said, trying to change the subject.

"I'm hoping to walk through most of the night and then take another break near dawn," Joel explained, making her nod.

It would be a strain on her leg, but it would be somewhat safer than staying in one place.

"Do you need to sleep?" she asked, knowing Joel was probably more tired than she was.

"I rested a bit while you did," he answered, and she wondered if he was a light sleeper.

_It sure seems like it,_ she thought as she stared at him, _he doesn't seem to need much sleep, and he can wake up easily. Maybe that's just normal for him._

Ellie opened her mouth to ask, but then remembered Joel's speech about 'annoying questions'. She guessed what she had to ask fell into the 'among other things' category.

She glanced over at Joel and saw him smile a bit; making her frustrated when she realized that had been his plan in the first place. She shook her head.

"How do you know Bill?" she asked, wondering what kind of person they were meeting.

Joel gave her a wary glance before answering.

"I've known him for a while now. Met him shortly after the infection started," Joel explained, making her nod.

"Did you know each other before the infection?" she asked, knowing that Joel probably wasn't very keen into revealing a lot of information. He seemed to hesitate a bit before continuing.

"I saw him around town every once in a while," he explained, but didn't say any more.

"Where exactly is Bill?" she wondered, knowing that people could move around freely outside of the quarantine zones.

"We should be meeting up with him soon, maybe in a few days," Joel said, making her somewhat relieved, "I know he has a safe house, but that depends if he is still there. A lot of things can change in the course of a few months."

Ellie tilted her head in confusion, but didn't ask. She didn't want him clamming up again.

"Is Bill like you and Tess?" she asked hesitantly, looking away from him.

Ellie knew that she had grown to trust Joel, despite what he did for a living, and that he wasn't that bad of a person once you got to know him, but she wasn't very excited about meeting Tess.

_Let's hope Bill isn't the same way,_ she thought with some worry.

Tess had been somewhat nice near the end, but Ellie hadn't really trusted her.

"Yes and no," Joel said, answering her question, "Bill is similar to us, but he operates on his own, outside of the quarantine zones."

"So he doesn't work in the black market?" Ellie questioned, and Joel nodded.

"Not now anyway," he added, making her curious.

"Does he know Tess?" she asked, and he nodded. She could tell he was starting to not like the direction her questions were going in.

"So, were those annoying questions?" she questioned, changing the subject to something she hoped was more comfortable.

She heard Joel laugh slightly.

"Partially annoying questions," he answered, making her smile a bit.

Ellie didn't say anything after that, afraid that the Infected or more hunters would find them.

Joel hadn't objected to her silence, and she guessed that it was more welcoming to him. She would glance at him from time to time, trying to figure out where they were going or what was on his mind.

_Let's hope Bill's at his 'safe house',_ Ellie thought as the pain in her leg grew worse.

"We can stop here for now," Joel said after a while, probably realizing she had started to limp.

Ellie sat down on a log, seeing the sky lighten a bit. It was still dark out, but at least she could see Joel without having to squint.

"How long have we been walking?" she asked, hoping it had been longer than she thought.

"Most of the night, so we should be fine," Joel answered, making her curious.

"Do the Infected having sleeping times?" she asked, and Joel gave her a thoughtful look.

"No, I don't believe so, but they do prefer darker places and nighttime over the daytime," Joel answer, "we have a less likely chance of running into them in the daytime though."

"That's why we stop closer to the daytime then?" she questioned, and Joel nodded.

"You should get some sleep," Joel stated, and she nodded, lying down with her back against the log.

She closed her eyes, dozing a bit. When she opened them again, Joel was still keeping watch, and she could tell she hadn't been asleep for long.

Ellie stood up, going to sit beside him. He sighed when he saw her.

"You're going to regret this when we start moving again," he stated. Ellie knew he was telling the truth.

"I know, but I can't sleep," she said, and then figured what she was about to do next to him was his worst nightmare.

"What do you plan to do when we get to Bill?" she asked, and thought she could hear Joel's frustration at her questioning him at this hour, "I mean, what can he help us with?"

"Transportation," Joel stated, sensing that he really didn't want to talk.

"Is there by any chance he has spare horses too?" she questioned, becoming confused when Joel shook his head.

"No, but hopefully he can help us with a car," he stated, making her even more confused.

"He's going to have a spare car lying around," Ellie said as she glanced at him.

"That's what I'm hoping," Joel answered, making her even more confused.

"But how is that even possible?" she asked, feeling none of the answers coming into place.

"Where Bill lives is like a junkyard," Joel explained, "Lots of spare parts. Most stuff would be useless, but some of it can be of some use."

"So, how are you going to convince him to give you a car?" Ellie asked, understanding a bit more, "It's not like he'll hand something that valuable over."

"You're right," Joel said with a slight smile, "but he owes me."

The simple statement was enough to make her laugh.

* * *

I know, the separation was short, but it was supposed to show how much Ellie realizes she needs Joel in the world outside of the quarantine zones. So now you know they are headed towards Bill's safe house. I have theorized from what I researched so far that there are two times they could head to Bill's safe house in the game: one, they could head to the safe house and get the car before Pittsburgh (which is what I am using for this fanfiction), or two, they could wreck the car during the car ambush, and then make their way towards Bill's safe house for a new one (which is what I am guessing they will use for the game). Sorry that was a bit random, but I just thought it was interesting that there can be so many different ideas. Either way, please tell me any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	9. An Unpleasant Meeting

Chapter 9: An Unpleasant Meeting

"Keep going!" Joel shouted from behind her, more clicking noises and gunshots following shortly after.

Ellie felt her breath coming in gasps, fear letting her run more than she was used to.

She saw the trees open up in front of her, making her assume she was in a clearing. She stopped; wanting to make sure Joel was still following behind her.

She heard the gunshots echo a bit farther behind her, letting her know he was still coming, along with the clickers.

Ellie heard the bushes rustling over to the side, and she reached for her switchblade, knowing that it was definitely not Joel.

A man came rushing out of the bushes, and Ellie wasn't focusing on him; she was focusing on what was in his hands.

_He has a bigger knife,_ Ellie thought with frustration as she stared at the machete in the man's hands.

The man seemed a bit surprised to see her traveling alone, with a smaller knife she guessed, but that surprise soon turned to anger.

"Who are you?" the man interrogated harshly. Ellie instantly didn't like him.

"Why should I tell someone like you?" she retorted, pointing her switchblade at him.

She knew that if he tried to fight her, his machete would win. But if it did come to that, she could try throwing it at him before he reached her.

_I don't have the best aim though,_ she thought in annoyance while she glared at the man.

Rustling in the bushes behind her made her look back in surprise, forgetting Joel was behind her; which was bad when she realized that at the speed he was running, he would run into her.

She quickly scrambled to the side, hoping not to get barreled over by Joel, who was just coming out of the bushes.

Surprise registered on both of the men's faces while Ellie walked over to stand beside Joel.

_This is a fairer fight,_ she thought, wanting to smile at the odds being switched. Joel's pistol was definitely faster than the man's machete.

"Bill?" Joel's question shocked her, making her eyes widen in disbelief.

"Joel," the man acknowledged, but Ellie could see some confusion in his eyes.

"No…" she whispered in disbelief, and then turned to Joel, "You have got to be kidding me."

Joel gave her a confused look, but then realization appeared in his eyes.

"We need to keep moving," he stated to her, "They're still coming."

Ellie nodded, glancing over at the man, who was disbelievingly Bill.

_Why? Of all people, why him?_ She mentally whined, knowing that meeting with Bill was not going to be a pleasant experience.

"We've been looking for you, Bill," Joel said, turning his attention towards the man.

"Sadly," Ellie muttered, but stopped when Joel gave her a look.

"What are you doing way out here?" Bill questioned, and she could tell he was still in a bad mood, "And with a-"

Joel cut Bill off, an annoyed expression on his face.

"I know, I'll explain later, but right now we have a major issue," Joel stated, somewhat annoyed. Ellie wondered if Tess had asked similar questions.

She was about to say something when she heard the familiar clicking noises coming closer, making her feel somewhat frantic.

Joel pulled her to the opposite side of the clearing, hiding in some bushes a few feet away. Bill followed them, but he moved at a much slower pace.

_Almost like he's used to this,_ Ellie thought, glaring at the man. Joel gave her another look.

The clickers came running out of the trees, searching around the area for them. Ellie bit her lip, regretting it when she felt blood start to pool in her mouth.

"Sorry," she mouthed when the Infected turned to look in their direction.

"Run," Joel whispered, his voice tense and then shouted louder when the Infected started to run their way, "Run!"

Ellie instantly turned around and did what he said, following as Bill ran in front of them. Her side was starting to hurt, but as Ellie glanced back and heard more gunshots, she continued to run blindly through the forest.

She saw the landscape open up again; this time being an almost sandy desert texture, and in the middle of piles of junk stood a ramshackle house.

Ellie ignored Bill's angry shouts and continued to run towards the house, but regretted it a moment later when her vision swam.

She felt her feet get tripped up and she then found herself being hung up by a section of rope, hanging upside-down.

Ellie frantically took out her switchblade and started to try and cut through the rope at her feet. She froze when she heard a gunshot coming from the house's direction and felt it whiz past her head.

She took one swing at the rope with the switchblade and it cut, sending her harshly down to the ground below.

From her position on the ground, she felt Joel help her up in her dazed state, and the two of them started to run towards the house. She glanced back and saw an angry expression on Bill's face, but he followed them when he saw the Infected break cover from the trees.

More bullets whizzed past their heads, as well as other pieces of rope and mechanisms tried to stop them before they got to the house.

Joel broke the door down and they ran into a hallway, opening a door on the other end and crowding into a medium-sized room.

Ellie stood panting a few feet away as Joel and Bill shoved the door and locked it. The clicking noises ceased after a few moments.

"That was close," she muttered, feeling her heart hammering in her chest.

She glanced over at Bill to see him throw the machete on a table, an angry expression on his face. He walked over to her, making her anger melt into fear at the murderous expression in his eyes.

"I'm Ellie," she said as she held out her hand, hoping for a greeting. She knew they didn't have the greatest first impression so far, but if they were going to be working together, she at least wanted to make an attempt to repair the damage done already.

Ellie saw Bill reach out to shake her hand, but was then surprised to hear a click as he dragged her over to a pipe.

"What-?" she started to ask, startled as she glanced over at Joel, "Joel!"

She glanced down to see she was handcuffed to a pipe, and standing in one place made her realize that she was stuck.

"Bill-" Joel started warily as he started to walk towards her, but stopped when Bill pulled out a pistol.

"On the ground!" Bill shouted, knocking Joel to the ground as he pushed him.

Ellie started to freak out, knowing that he might actually shoot Joel. She heard Bill start to list something, checking Joel for something, and she had the thought that he might be robbing them.

"I'm clean, Bill!" Joel shouted, sounding angry.

Ellie felt her emotions start to go on haywire, pulling frantically at the pipe. She started to tug harder despite the pain it was causing her wrists when she saw the pipe start to loosen. She glanced worriedly over at them.

"Alright, but if I see anything-" Bill started to say, but at that moment the pipe came loose, and Ellie took the opportunity to slam it as hard as she could into his arm.

She brought the pipe over her head for another hit, but Joel grabbed the pipe and gave her a warning glance. He threw the pipe on the ground, standing in front of her.

"You done?" Joel asked, staring at Bill. Ellie wondered if he was going to ask her as well.

"Am I done?" Bill asked in disbelief, "You come into my safe house. You nearly break my good arm. You set off all of my traps and lead the Infected here. And what are you doing with this little-?!"

Ellie cut him off, feeling anger at what he was going to say next. She shoved Joel's arm out of the way, starting to walk up to Bill.

"I am none of your business, and we are here because you owe Joel some favors!" she shouted, holding out her hand-cuffed wrist, "and you can start by removing these."

Joel walked up to them and gave her another glance, making her shut her mouth.

She angrily walked over to a stool at the side of the room, picking up the pipe on the way.

_It's not my fault. Fatty's the one who attacked us,_ Ellie thought in annoyance, messing with something on the stool as Joel and the man talked.

"I need a car," Joel's voice said, perking her interest. She glanced over at them, setting down what she had been messing with and walking over towards them slowly.

"Yeah, Joel needs a car. Is this some kind of joke?" Bill asked, sharpening his machete on the table, "Go ahead Joel, take my car, why don't you take all my food while you're at it too?"

"Looks like you could lose some of that food," Ellie said, the comment bursting out of her mouth.

What surprised her more was when Bill pointed the machete at her, making her eyes widen. Joel stopped him with his arm extended in front of her.

"Why you listen you little-!" Fatty started to yell, which made her anger ignite again.

"You're the one who handcuffed me, Fatty!" she shouted, fighting against Joel when he pulled her away.

She glared at him as he gave her a hard stare, making her force herself to shut her mouth.

"Be quiet," Joel commanded, making her look away. He started to walk back over towards Bill.

"Fatty started it," Ellie muttered, wincing when Joel turned back around to reveal anger on his face. His look was enough, and she stopped talking.

"Whatever you think I owe you, it's not worth that much," she heard Bill say as Joel walked back over to the table.

"Actually, it is," Joel countered, and Ellie had to keep herself from smiling when she thought of the exchange her and Joel had a few days earlier.

"Well, I don't have a car," Bill stated, looking over at Joel. Ellie glanced down quickly to see a map on the table.

"You have something here," Joel answered, but was cut off by Bill before he could say more.

"I have parts, not a working car," he said, cutting Joel off with a look.

Ellie heard Joel sigh, and she knew negotiations weren't going as planned.

"That means you could build something," Joel argued, and Ellie wondered if she shouldn't just threaten to hit Fatty with the pipe again.

_Might be more effective,_ she thought, staring down at it and then at Bill's arm.

Fatty didn't miss the look she gave him, and she didn't miss that he had seen it. She shook her head, feeling frustrated.

She heard their conversation stop; making her wonder if it _was_ a good time to use the pipe. She turned around and saw Bill moving a few things around on the table, making room to show them the map.

"We are going to need to get some parts," she heard him say as she came over, staring at where he was pointing on the map, "They're on the other side of the area."

She heard him pause, taking something out of his pocket.

"But after this, I owe you nothing," he said, and Ellie saw him hand something to Joel, which she then identified as keys.

"That's fine," she heard Joel mumble as he took the handcuffs off of her; "We will probably be dead in a few days either way."

"Good," she heard Fatty say, making her want to hit him again, but stopped when he continued talking, "Now follow me. The whole place is layered with traps, and I can guarantee it that more of those clickers will be around. Follow my rear end if you have to."

Fatty walked past her, and Ellie didn't miss the glint of the machete in his hands.

_We're in for a long, hard trip,_ she thought as she watched him walk in front of them.

"Can't miss it," she mumbled when she was sure that he couldn't hear her. She didn't count on Joel being able to hear her though.

"Knock it off," Joel demanded as he tugged on her arm harshly, making her pull away and follow at a distance.

Ellie sighed, feeling angry and frustrated. Why didn't the horses just survive and then they wouldn't have had to come see Bill.

_We could have avoided this whole mess if I would have kept my mouth shut,_ Ellie thought, then glanced up at Bill, _but I won't keep my mouth shut for this._

Ellie continued to stay right behind Joel, not wanting to get any closer. Thoughts floated in her head, distracting her.

When she nearly bumped into Joel however, her mood soured.

"What-?" she started to asked, feeling irritated, but Bill's voice cut her off.

"How did the Infected find us in the bushes anyway?" Bill demanded angrily, "Unless she sneezed or something-"

Ellie cut him off when he started to point at her.

"I bet I'm a lot stealthier than you," she retorted, feeling some satisfaction when she saw him get angry.

"Are you really that sure?" Bill asked her, and Ellie thought of the perfect comment.

"I'd bet my life on it, Fatty," she said, smiling a bit.

She personally hadn't traded words with someone since back at the old boarding school she had been at, so she felt it was time to get started again.

"We can bet that right here if you want-" Fatty stated, starting to walk towards her.

Ellie started to realize that this wasn't such a good idea any more.

_He has a bigger knife,_ she reminded herself as she pulled out her switchblade.

"Enough," Joel stated, and she could tell he was angry, "We already have everything else in the world trying to kill us, so I don't need you two to go at each other's throats every two seconds."

Ellie opened her mouth to comment, but then shut it at the glare Joel was giving her. She had personally never seen him so angry before.

_It's almost scary,_ she thought, feeling the urge to shiver.

"Anyway, I thought you would have known that the infected can sense blood," Ellie muttered, loud enough for them to hear.

Joel turned around, looking like he was about ready to smack her, but then she saw something dawn on him.

"Where in the world did you hear something like that?" Bill asked her in a taunting voice.

"Wow, you must be dumber than I thought," Ellie stated and then pointed at Joel, who by now was most likely developing a headache, "and I heard it from him."

Bill gave Joel a look, and then looked back at her.

"The Infected can't sense blood," Bill stated, making her somewhat angry, "but that is weird. If it wouldn't cause so much trouble, I would test out your theory right now."

Ellie started to walk toward Bill, ready to smack him with the pipe again. Joel stopped her, giving her a look that made her suddenly want to smack him too.

She turned around, starting to walk in the opposite direction. She could feel Joel's confusion from where she was. His hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Ellie, I can explain later," Joel stated, not making her feel any better.

"You lied. You could have just told me the truth from the beginning," she said, not looking at him, "So, what is the _real_ reason that the Infected in Boston was following us?"

She heard Joel sigh and not answer for a moment, and she guessed he was having a hard time coming up with the answer.

"That _is_ the real reason," Joel said slowly, making her turn around.

"But Fatty just said-" she started, but was cut off by Joel.

Bill looked like he wanted to murder her again, but Joel stopped him with a look.

"So, the Infected can sense _my_ blood," she said and at Joel's nod continued, "but how, when they can't sense anyone else's."

"That's the hard part, I don't know yet," Joel answered with a sigh, "but we need to keep moving. We can talk about this later."

_Sure we can,_ Ellie thought, feeling bitter, _but you'll either clam up or get mad at me if I do mention it._

Ellie could tell by the light up ahead that they were getting close to the exit of the safe house.

_Thankfully, it reeks in here,_ she thought, resisting the urge to plug her nose.

Ellie froze when she heard the clicking sounds coming from outside the door. She followed Joel as he ducked down, trying to avoid being seen.

"See, this is the problem with them knowing where I live now," Bill whispered his complaint.

"You're scared that they know where you live? You think it would be obvious that someone lived in a house layered with traps in a junkyard that-" Ellie never got to finish her sentence since Joel put his hand over her mouth.

She glared at him, which made him sigh.

"I'll tell you later," Joel stated, which seemed to make Bill angry.

"Why, is it not appropriate to say with me here?" Bill asked in a mocking tone, which made Joel shake his head.

"No, it's just an inside joke," Ellie stated sarcastically, wanting to roll her eyes. She didn't really know what Joel wanted to tell her, but she was coming up with a few guesses.

Joel gave her a look, which she interpreted as "shut up", and instantly wanted to laugh. She kept it in though, knowing how much trouble she would cause if she did start to laugh.

"How are we going to get past them?" Ellie asked, trying to map the place out in her head. She only had a rough sketch though, since she wasn't even sure if they had seen the whole safe house.

"You mean, how are you two going to get past them," Bill corrected her, making her eyes widen.

"You aren't coming?" she questioned, and the look on Joel's face made her think he wasn't surprised by this.

"You want the car, you're going to have to get the parts," Bill stated, sneaking back towards where they had come.

"Lazy-" she started to mutter, but stopped when Joel gave her another look.

"Come on," Joel said with a shake of his head, starting to creak the door open.

She followed him when it was open wide enough, taking cover behind some of the piles of junk.

_This is going to be a long trip,_ Ellie thought as she followed Joel, sneaking past the Infected and towards their objective.

* * *

So, here we introduced Bill (whom Ellie doesn't like so much). I had a lot of fun writing this for some reason (maybe it was the fights). Either way, please tell me any thoughts or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	10. Parts of A Whole

Chapter 10: Parts of A Whole

Ellie put her backpack down, feeling sore from the extra weight of the parts inside it. She glanced at Joel and knew that he was feeling the same thing.

"Alright, check under here and then we can get back," Joel stated, motioning to the pulled-down door of an old garage. She gave him a look.

"What if it's not in here?" she asked, and Joel sighed.

"If it's not in there, then Bill will just have to make do with what we have," he answered, clearly annoyed.

"I'm surprised Fatty's going to be able to make anything out of this junk," she muttered, getting another look from Joel.

"He is trying to help, you know," he stated with a sigh, making her look away.

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to be so-" Ellie started, but he interrupted her.

"He wouldn't be so irritable if you wouldn't keep bothering him about certain things," Joel stated, "Plus you two kind of had a bad start."

"A bad start is an understatement," she muttered, and Joel glanced back at her.

"Let's hope we can fix that then," Joel stated, and she nodded.

"How am I going to get inside?" she wondered, keeping watch for any clickers that might see them.

"I can hold the door up for a short amount of time," Joel explained, and she nodded as he walked over towards the door, sliding his fingers underneath of it, "so you'll need to hurry when I lift it."

"Got it," she said with a nod, hoping the noise wouldn't cause too much trouble.

Ellie walked over towards the door, and when she saw that Joel could only lift it up so far, she had to crawl on her stomach to see inside.

She could only fit so far in with all the junk in the garage, and her legs stuck out underneath the door.

"Find anything?" Joel's voice asked from the other side of the door. Ellie glanced around quickly, resisting the urge to plug her nose.

"There's a lot of nasty stuff in here," she called out, hearing Joel sigh a moment later.

"Ellie," Joel said with a warning in his voice, and she could hear the strain it was putting on him to hold the door up.

"Ok, I'm going," she said, scanning the area for the part they needed.

_Better hurry, _she thought, _or else I'm going to be paralyzed from the legs down._

Her eyes fell on the object they needed, and she felt a smile grow on her face.

"It's here," she shouted excitedly, then realized that Joel still had to hold the door up, "Oops."

Ellie grabbed the part, which looked like a medium-sized flat gear, and climbed backwards out of the garage.

Apparently Joel either thought the part was completely out of the garage or he ran out of energy because as soon as Ellie slid out of the garage and got the part half way through, Joel dropped the door.

Ellie stared at him for a moment, and then back at the part that was jammed under the door, not knowing whether to be angry or laugh.

Joel must have just realized what he did; a sigh escaped him, making her glance back at the door.

"That's heavier than I thought," he stated, and she realized that was as much of an excuse she would get out of him.

She held her breath, trying not to laugh at the expression on his face.

"Maybe I should try?" she suggested, and Joel just waved at the door, which she took as an ok.

Ellie walked up to the door and slid her fingers under it, and then tried to lift it. After several failed attempts, she sat on the ground panting.

"Ok, you're going to have to do this," she said, and heard a chuckle from Joel. She saw him shake his head as he walked over towards the door, slipping his hands under but not lifting it up.

"What?" she asked when he stared at her for a few moments.

"You're going to need to get the part out from under the door as soon as I lift this," Joel explained and she nodded.

He waited a moment and then lifted; the expression on his face making her laugh.

Joel looked back at her with a somewhat angry and confusion expression on his face at her laughing.

"Ellie!" Joel warned at her laughing, "Stop laughing and get the part."

"I know, I know," Ellie stated, but then started laughing again, "but your face is so funny!"

She heard Joel sigh and she tried to stifle her laughter.

"Just get the part," he ordered, and she stopped laughing long enough for her to do as he said.

When the part was out of the door, Joel took a few moments to catch his breath.

"Sorry," Ellie muttered, knowing she didn't seem convincing with the smile on her face.

"Sure," he said as he shook his head, "and one more thing."

Ellie tilted her head, guessing this was what Joel was going to tell her when Fatty wasn't with them.

"What?" she asked, wondering what he was going to say.

"Don't repeat what I say in front of Bill," Joel stated, "especially if it's about him."

Ellie bit her lip to keep herself from laughing again.

"Fatty gets offended that easily?" she asked, picking up the part and putting it in Joel's backpack.

She would have put the part in hers, especially since she felt somewhat bad about Joel being tired after lifting the door twice, but she knew it wouldn't fit in her backpack. The sigh Joel emitted confirmed he knew as well.

"Alright, let's get heading back to the safe house," he said, shouldering his backpack.

Ellie grabbed hers, and then looked at the safe house in the distance.

_It's so far to travel with these parts,_ she thought as she glanced at Joel.

"Isn't there an easier way to get these back?" she asked, and Joel shook his head.

"Unless you want to make a sprint to the safe house with the Infected in tow again," he suggested, and she shook her head, not wanting to go through that again.

"No, I'd prefer sneaking instead of that," she said, shaking her head.

Joel motioned with his head to walk down to where they had come. Ellie glanced back at the safe house one more time as she walked down the hill.

_So far to go,_ she thought as she let out a sigh.

Ellie instinctively crouched behind a pile of junk. Joel joined her and they waited for a few moments.

Ellie listened to their surroundings, finding that they were surprisingly quiet. She glanced over at Joel.

"Think the Infected left," she whispered, still not hearing anything. The silence was making her on edge.

"It's a possibility," Joel answered, peeking out from behind the garbage.

She felt confusion when she saw him sneak over to another pile of junk, and she followed.

"Why are we still sneaking?" she asked, "They don't appear to be here anymore."

"Yes, but we can't ever be fully sure," Joel explained, making her shake her head.

"You are sometimes too overly cautious," she said as she gave him a look.

"Better to be overly cautious than dead," he stated, and she nodded, agreeing with him.

They continued their tactic of sneaking along piles of junk until they got closer to the safe house.

By then, Ellie was getting annoyed and cranky. Her back hurt from sneaking and the extra weight of the parts, and they hadn't seen any Infected the whole trip back.

"Can't we just-?" she started to ask, but was silenced by Joel.

She gave him a glare, but then her eyes widened when she realized what he heard: gunshots and shouting from inside the safe house.

Ellie peeked out from behind the pile of garbage, gasping when she saw dozens of dead Infected on the floor.

"They must have a lot of ammo," she stated, knowing Joel saw the same thing.

"Or know how to deal with them," he said, his eyes narrowing.

Joel glanced over at her when she had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"What are you thinking about?" he questioned, making a smile come onto her face.

"I just realized that we left Fatty in there," she stated, pointing to the open door where the shouts were coming from. Joel's eyes widened at her words.

"Bill," he mumbled with a shake of his head, "for once I wish you would have tagged along."

Ellie would have laughed, but that would have alerted the hostile group to their location.

"Who do you think is raiding him?" she questioned, keeping a lookout for anyone that might spot them.

"Most likely hunters," Joel mumbled, "or bandits."

"How does that make any sense? They are basically the same thing to us," Ellie said with a shake of her head. Joel shrugged, not giving an answer.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked, glancing inside of the safe house again.

The gunshots and shouting had ceased, making her wonder if Fatty had bit the dust already.

_Wouldn't surprise me,_ she thought, and Joel gave her a look that made her think he knew exactly what she was thinking of.

"We need to get inside, see if Bill's still alive," Joel stated, and then added more after a moment, "or still here."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Fatty's flown the coop," she muttered, making him give her another look.

"If Bill did leave, then it will be hard to track him down, which gives us a very bad transportation problem," he stated, reminding her of their dilemma.

"Fine, let's hope he's not dead," she said, giving in for once.

Joel didn't answer her; instead, he was looking around them, glancing inside of the safe house every so often.

"Follow me," he whispered, starting to sneak into the safe house.

Ellie pulled up the map in her head from earlier, remembering that there were a lot more rooms than Fatty had showed them.

_The hunters could be in one of those rooms,_ she thought,_ or we could use them to our advantage._

Joel seemed to know what she was thinking, and they both nodded.

She followed him silently until they came to a room with an opened door. Joel glanced around the corner and motioned for her to go in when the coast was clear.

Ellie snuck into the room, hearing Joel come in behind her. She leaned against the wall, hearing voices coming from out in the hall.

She behind her and grabbed the pipe from where she had slipped it partially in her backpack, but was confused when Joel didn't pull out his pistol.

She waited until the voices sounded farther away to start talking.

"You aren't going to use your pistol?" she questioned, and Joel glanced over at her like the answer was obvious.

"Pistols make too much noise," he answered, making her glance down at the pipe.

"You can use this," she whispered, handing the pipe to him and taking her switchblade out of her pocket.

He nodded his thanks, and Ellie heard someone talking out in the hallway.

"Can't believe they haven't found Fatso already," the man's voice came to her as a mumble, making her aware that he was very close.

"Over there," Joel whispered, motioning towards a desk she could hide behind.

Ellie quickly crawled over towards it, hiding underneath of it.

From under the desk, she peeked out beneath it and saw Joel sneak over behind the door.

A man wearing ragged clothes walked through the door, coming to stand beside the desk.

Ellie bit her lip, wondering what to do. She glanced over at where Joel was hiding, and saw with relief that the man hadn't seen him.

_How do I get rid of him? Or will he just leave?_ Ellie wondered, staring down at her switchblade.

She didn't like the thought of killing, but if it would keep Joel and her alive, then it had to be done.

The man came around the side of the desk, opening some drawers until he pulled something out.

_A revolver,_ she thought when she realized with fear that he had a better chance of seeing her,_ he's been hiding it._

The man started to fiddle with the revolver, checking the amounts of bullets and other things.

Ellie froze, hoping not to be seen.

The man started to turn around, almost in the direction that he was going to walk out of the room.

Out of curiosity, Ellie glanced up at him, which she then realized as a mistake. The man seemed to see her move in the shadows and turned back around, staring at where she was. She really hoped he would think he was imagining things.

Ellie's breath came out fast as the man bent down, staring at her with confusion. He had a curious expression on his face, and she started to think that he was wrestling with some morality he had left.

Her gaze wandered sideways, and she saw Joel start to sneak towards the man while he was distracted with her.

_Is he using me as bait?_ She thought, feeling some anger.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked, and Ellie could tell that he seemed to be a new recruit to whoever was invading the safe house.

She somewhat felt bad about what she was going to do next.

"A friend was supposed to help me," she whispered, putting the fear she felt into her words.

Her trick seemed to work; she saw sympathy form in the man's eyes.

_After all, I am just a child to him,_ she thought, hoping Joel would end things quickly before she felt the same sympathy.

"A friend? Where is that friend now?" the man asked, and Ellie could tell a plan was forming in his head; one that was supposed to help her escape without being seen.

"I don't know," she whispered, looking away from him and sliding under the desk a bit more, feeling somewhat sick at her deception.

She heard the man blow his breath out slowly, almost as if he was thinking. She saw him glance down at the ground, resolve on his face.

"Look, I can get you out of here," the man said, and Ellie looked up at him, false hope in her eyes.

"You can?" she asked, tilting her head in a naïve manner.

"Yes, but you have to go through with what I'm going to tell you," the man stated, and Ellie saw that Joel was only a few feet away.

_Please hurry,_ she thought, feeling her resolve starting to crumble.

Ellie nodded, making the mistake of looking at Joel behind the man instead of at the man himself.

The man realized this and turned around, shock on his face when Joel came at him with the pipe.

Ellie looked away, feeling sadness at what she had done. She heard the sounds of a struggle, and then a thudding sound.

Her eyes wandered towards Joel, and she saw the man passed out on the ground. Surprise and anxiety filled her when she saw Joel raise the pipe another time.

"Don't kill him!" she yelled, putting her hands over her mouth in surprise as tears started to roll down her face.

Joel stared at her with a somewhat angry and surprised look on his face, but he did as she asked, leaving the man alone.

He looked like he was about to say something, but they both heard shouts coming from the hallways.

"Out! Now!" Joel commanded as he started to run out the door, and she followed soon after.

_What have I done?_ She thought with fear, hearing the voices behind them.

She saw Joel up ahead, trying to get the door open. She heard him swear when it wouldn't budge, and it was then that she realized that the man had been closing the door when he had come into the room.

Fear filled her as she saw a group of three men catch up to them, huge knives in their hands.

Joel pushed her behind him, holding his pistol now.

_It doesn't matter now that they know we're here,_ she thought, knowing she had put them in greater danger.

Three gunshots later, and the men all fell to the ground. Ellie felt Joel pull on her arm, getting her to run.

As she ran past one of the men, she saw him stir a bit and pull something that looked similar to a gun out of his pocket.

"Joel!" she shouted, trying to get his attention, but couldn't continue when she felt something sharp pierce into her leg.

She felt Joel continue to lead her through the safe house, trying to find somewhere safe to hide. She felt the map that she had made in her head slowly blur.

Ellie felt the scenery around her change, and instead of being inside of Bill's safe house, she was running along the white walls of a research lab.

She glanced up when she felt a hand pulling her through the hall, but she felt surprise and confusion when she didn't see Joel guiding her.

Instead, she saw a girl that was a year older than her. The girl's black hair was pulled into bun at the back of her head.

"Ellie, come on!" the girl was shouting at her, "We need to get out of here!"

Ellie felt like she was in a daze; she felt herself tripping and her strength was failing fast.

She felt her vision swirl a bit as she heard the girl start to mutter a curse; it never got finished as the words were drowned out by gunshots. The girl led her into some white aisles, hiding them from their pursuers.

Ellie glanced over at a shattered mirror, seeing blood leaking from her right eyebrow.

"I'm bleeding," she heard herself say, and the girl sighed.

"Yes, you are, but we can fix that when we get out of here," the girl said, and Ellie's gaze drifted towards her.

She felt herself start to go limp as darkness started to cover her eyes, and the girl's hands gripped her shoulders, forcing her to stay awake as the girl shook her.

"Hey, don't go dying on me, Ellie," the girl said as she started to regain some consciousness, "We've come too far to die hear."

"What did they mean, Riley?" she heard herself ask the girl, "About-?"

Her sentence was cut off.

"I don't know, but we can figure that out after we get out of here," the girl stated, starting to help her stand up.

Ellie felt the girl- Riley she guessed was her name- start to lead her again, running when they heard voices.

Confusion coursed through her when she saw herself running, but felt her body sitting down against something.

"Ellie, stay with me!" she heard someone shout, and she felt the scene change again.

She glimpsed Joel with a worried expression on his face before everything went dark.

* * *

Just to make something clear, I skipped majority of the part collecting because I didn't feel a need to put most of it in. Majority of it would have been uneventful and not very useful, so I decided to do a time skip to when they were getting the last part. And I am including Riley in this fanfiction (she will have a big role in Ellie's backstory for this, and it will be explained more when we get further). Also, I think I am going to be naming the chapters (sort of like a summary); I just need to head back and edit them really quickly (so if you don't see a chapter "title", then I haven't uploaded it or come up with it yet). Please tell me what you thought of this chapter, as well as any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	11. Hostage

Chapter 11: Hostage

Joel continued to run blindly down the hallways of Bill's safe house, trying to find an escape.

Bill, of course, had never really shown him where everything was, but he remembered a bit.

_Let's hope that helps us,_ he thought, feeling Ellie trailing behind him.

"I'm bleeding," he heard Ellie mumble behind him, making him glance back.

From the way she was starting to act, he could tell that something was wrong.

_But what?_ He wondered, thinking back to how she had been trying to get his attention.

"Ellie, we need to get out of here," he stated, stopping for a moment.

He glanced back to see that she was staring at the ground, a dazed look on her face.

Joel shook his head, continuing to pull her towards one of the rooms.

"What did they mean, Riley?" Ellie asked from behind him, "About-?"

He heard her sentence cut off, almost as if someone was talking to her.

_What is going on?_ He thought with frustration and worry as he leaned Ellie against the wall inside a room.

His eyes scanned over her, and he saw that blood was coating her pants on her leg.

"Where she got cut," he mumbled, pulling the pants leg up a bit and seeing that the cut was bleeding.

Joel took his backpack off of his shoulders, reaching for the gauze; something caught his attention a moment later.

Something sharp was embedded in Ellie's leg, and as he pulled it out, his eyes widened in recognition.

_Tranquilizer darts,_ he realized, starting to shake Ellie to keep her awake.

"Ellie, stay with me!" he demanded, and for a moment her eyes held recognition at seeing him.

Joel swore when Ellie's eyes closed and her body headed for the ground, making him have to catch her so she wouldn't hit her head.

"Perfect," he mumbled, looking towards the hallway when he heard voices.

Joel glanced between Ellie and another door, which most likely connected this room to the outside.

He quickly got up and ran for the exit.

_I need to find a way to get Ellie out of there,_ he thought, hearing shouts as the hunters discovered what he had left behind.

Once he was outside, he closed the door and turned around, hearing the sounds of a struggle nearby.

_That must be Bill,_ he thought, sneaking towards the sounds as he pulled out his pistol.

Peeking around the side of the building, Joel spotted Bill wrestling with two men. He aimed his pistol, and one of them fell.

The distraction gave Bill just enough time to finish off the other one.

Joel put his pistol back in his backpack, along with the pipe Ellie had given him to use. He walked over towards Bill.

"What are you doing here?" Bill asked in annoyance, although Joel could tell he was inwardly pleased he hadn't been left alone.

"Thought you could use some help," he answered, bending down to search through the men's supplies.

He slipped a few bullets and some antibiotic cream into his backpack.

Bill looked around for a moment, a somewhat confused expression on his face.

"Where's the girl?" he asked, making Joel sigh.

"Back in your safe house," Joel answered, "I need to get her out."

"Good luck with that," Bill said, starting to walk away.

"Bill," he interrupted, a warning in his voice, "you owe me."

Bill turned around, a somewhat angry and confused expression on his face.

"I told you that I didn't owe you anything anymore," he stated, making Joel motioned towards the two dead men on the ground.

Bill gave him a look, making Joel cross his arms.

"You can't be serious-" Bill started to retort, but Joel cut him off.

"You owe me now," he stated, making Bill give him an angry expression.

"Fine, but this is it," Bill said, shaking his head.

Joel leaned down, inspecting the dead men. Bill gave him a confused glance.

"What do you need me for anyway?" Bill asked, making him look up with a smirk.

"There are two people," he stated, motioning to the dead men on the ground as he started to explain his plan.

* * *

"We caught the girl, but the other two are nowhere to be seen," Ellie heard someone say through her half-consciousness.

"Joel? Riley?" she mumbled, holding her head as she felt a headache coming on.

She held her head as she opened her eyes, seeing a group of hunters instead.

_What happened?_ She thought as she glared at them, _and where is Joel?_

"We at least have the girl; he won't leave without her," one of the men said, and Ellie guessed he was the leader.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said, staring at the ground, "we fight a lot. He might be half-way across the state with Fatty by now."

Ellie hoped her words were wrong; there was always a possibility that Joel had left, but she was starting to think that he wouldn't leave her behind.

_He promised,_ she thought as she took a deep breath, spying two more guards entering the room and blocking the exit.

Both held guns, and she cringed when she realized that she was going to have a hard time getting out of this mess.

_Maybe it would be better if Joel was half-way across the state by now,_ she thought, but felt sadness at it.

"Where is he?" one man interrogated, making her look away.

"I don't know," Ellie said, telling the truth, "but I probably wouldn't tell you if I did know either way."

She glanced over and saw her backpack leaning against the wall, out of her reach.

_At least they don't know I have a switchblade,_ she thought as she still felt it in her pocket.

"I would advise you to tell us where he went, or else-" the leader of the group started to say, but Ellie cut him off.

"What, or else you're going to shoot me?" she asked, motioning to the guards around the room, "Personally I wouldn't care. I don't really have anything to head back to in Boston, and if you catch Joel you will probably just kill us both either way."

The leader seemed to lose his train of thought for a moment, almost as if what Ellie had just said was true.

"If you need a hint though, Joel is directionally challenged," she started to say, trying not to smile.

Of course she knew what she was saying was a lie, but the group of hunters didn't know Joel personally, so they didn't know that.

"If you tell him you're in one direction, he'll think you mean a different one," she said as she continued, staring at the floor.

Her gaze travelled and she saw one of the guards near the door seem angry, while the guard beside him was snickering and nudging him in the arm. She resisted the urge to smirk.

_Maybe he's directionally challenged too, _Ellie thought, thinking of what else to say.

"He does have a pistol though, but we ran out of bullets," she continued, lying about the last part. They had plenty of bullets, or at least she hoped so.

"I did give him a pipe, so that might be a problem-" Ellie never got to finish what she said; something hard colliding with her jaw made her head whip to the side.

"Enough!" she heard the leader shout angrily, although it sounded a bit weird to her because of the pain, "Tell us where he is!"

She would have answered, but coughing up blood made her unable to. Her vision swam a bit before becoming slightly normal.

Ellie guessed she was hallucinating, but it seemed as if one of the guards by the door had stepped forward to help her, only to be stopped by the other one.

"Wait!" a familiar voice shouted, making her glance over to see the man Joel had knocked out earlier; a red cut was now healing on his head.

The leader of the group was now pointing his gun at the man, making Ellie start to reach for her switchblade.

_He's done nothing wrong; he tried to help me,_ she thought, but stopped her reach when the man spoke again.

"She can be useful," the man stated, and the leader of the group gave him a thoughtful expression.

"What do you mean, Sean?" the leader asked, making Ellie glance over at the man.

_Sean, so that's his name,_ she thought and then sighed, _does anyone have last names anymore?_

"She was able to trick me," Sean stated, motioning towards her, "How much more would she be able to deceive others?"

Ellie felt a sick feeling enter her, and she pressed her head to the floor.

_So, they're just going to use me,_ she thought, wondering why she felt surprised.

She brought her head up to stare at the leader, and saw that he was staring at her.

_I really don't like you,_ she thought, biting her lip to avoid speaking her thoughts.

"For once, you're right Sean," the leader said, walking over towards her, "After all, she is just a child."

Ellie felt anger at his words, but bit down on her lip harder, knowing that consequences would come if she lost it now.

"Actually, I'm older than a kid," she stated, trying to stay calm, but glaring at the leader nonetheless.

She didn't like how close he was getting, and she thought that he smelled worse than the safe house.

_Worse than Fatty possibly,_ she thought, resisting the urge to plug her nose.

"What did you need with Fatty anyway?" she asked, hoping she could get into the most annoying question spree so far.

"He's owed us quite a lot over the years," the leader spoke, no longer interested in her. She shook her head.

"Seems like everyone owes someone something," she muttered, and would have laughed if the situation would have been better.

The taste of blood in her mouth made her feel sick again.

"That's how it is out here," the leader said as he paced the floor, "How old are you?"

_Well, there goes no talking to strangers,_ she thought with a shake of her head.

"Fourteen," Ellie answered, and then continued, "but I have no idea why I would tell someone like you that."

The leader ignored her comment, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Fourteen," he repeated, "So you do have no experience of this world."

"It's practically new to me," she muttered, then when she realized what he had said continued, "How do you know that?"

He didn't answer her question, which made her angry. It seemed a lot of people knew more about her than she liked.

"When Joel gets here, he's going to kick your-" Ellie started to say, but was interrupted by one of the guards near the door.

"Actually, your _friend_ isn't going to be coming anytime soon," the guard stated, making her turn around to glare at him.

On further inspection, she realized it seemed that his 'uniform' didn't quite fit him. Both of the guards by the door had hoods on their heads, as well as gas masks covering their faces.

_Aren't you self-conscious,_ she thought, thinking of retorting.

"And why do you say that?" she asked, glaring at the man.

The other guard walked forward, interrupting what his companion was going to say.

"We caught them sneaking around outside. They were taken care of accordingly," the guard said, making her eyes widen.

"Taken care of?" she repeated, her voice closing off. She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order.

"You took care of them?!" the leader demanded, looking angry, "One of those men owed us!"

Ellie stared at the ground, feeling confused.

_Joel wouldn't go down that easy,_ she thought, trying to convince herself otherwise, _but he is only human-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a gun being loaded, and she glanced over to see the leader pointing the gun at the skinnier guard.

"This safe house and all the supplies in it should be payment enough," the guard stated, making her suddenly grow angry at him.

"You're sick!" she shouted at him, "This is some daily occurrence for you, isn't it?! Killing off people without a second thought!"

Ellie stood up, taking her switchblade from her pocket and running at him, hoping that she could at least injure him.

_He deserves it,_ she thought as she swung the switchblade at him.

The guard reacted quickly, grabbing her arm and then throwing her to the ground. She glared at him, feeling her eyes start to blur with tears.

"He _can't_ be dead," she said as she stared at him, hoping he would just tell her the truth.

_What if that is the truth?_ She wondered, _what would I do then?_

The guard looked away from her, not giving her an answer. She bit her lip, refusing to cry in front of him.

She heard the sound of guns being loaded, and glanced around to see them pointed at her; all except the one guard she had attacked.

"Sean said you could be useful, but remember you can be disposed of at any time," the leader said, making her glare at him.

Ellie felt the weight of everything crash down on her; Joel was dead and she was going to be used for the hunters as bait.

_Not anymore,_ she thought, standing up.

"Go ahead and shoot me," she stated, and she saw the guard she had attacked pull something from his backpack.

_A pistol?_ She thought in confusion, remembering seeing them with a different kind of gun before. Her eyes widened in realization as she recognized the weapon.

"Joel-?" she started to ask, but then realized what trouble she had put him in.

Gunfire erupted a moment later, and Ellie instinctively ran for cover, which happened to look something like a bar table.

She still had her switchblade, but she realized that her backpack was on the other side of the room.

_Great job, Ellie,_ she thought with frustration as she peeked her head out from behind the counter.

She couldn't tell who was who since everyone was dressed similarly, but she found Sean shooting a gun next to one of the guards, which she guessed was Fatty.

_But where is Joel?_ She wondered, and as she scanned the scene realized that she couldn't see him, or the leader of the group.

She waited behind the counter until the gunfire stopped, and peeked her head out just as a head went rolling onto the floor.

She glanced over at Bill, who was removing his face mask and had his machete in hand.

"Never thought I would be glad to see you, Fatty," she said, starting to smile.

Her smile went away quickly when she realized she only saw Fatty and Sean.

"Joel?" she asked, glancing around the room. She started to walk forward, but was yanked harshly from behind.

She struggled for a moment, feeling an arm wrap tightly around her neck, which made her stop.

A moment later, she heard the click of a gun and felt the metal being pressed against her head.

_Wonderful,_ she thought in annoyance,_ now I'm a hostage._

Ellie saw Sean's eyes widen in shock, as well as Fatty turning around to see the situation. No one else seemed to be in the room besides them and the person who was holding a gun to her head.

"Make one move," the leader of the group said, bumping her head with the gun's bottom, "and her lights go out."

"I should have known you wouldn't die so easily," she muttered at the leader, getting a harder hit to the head.

"Let her go," she heard Sean's voice fill with desperation, "She's only a kid."

Ellie felt something wet start to run down her face, and she realized that her head was bleeding now.

"I've had too much overkill on my brain today," she muttered, feeling a headache coming on.

Her gaze wandered over towards the dead bodies, and she wished she would have counted them beforehand.

_Joel could be among them,_ she thought, then trying to steer her thoughts away from the unpleasant idea.

"What could you gain from killing her?" Fatty asked, motioning towards them, "She's a little-"

"Shut it, Fatty," she interrupted, feeling anger at what he had been about to say. She felt the arm around her neck tighten a bit, and a pained noise left her mouth.

"What could I gain?" the leader asked, and she thought he sounded half-hysterical, "Well, for starters, you could give me back what you owe me."

Fatty looked hesitant, and Ellie knew that whatever it was must have been important.

"And I could always use Sean's idea, among other things," the leader stated, and Ellie realized that she had slipped her switchblade back into her pocket before getting caught.

_I could use that,_ she thought and her hand started to reach for it, but pain spread across her leg when her attacker kicked it, making her feel it bleed again.

Ellie felt her vision start to swim again, as well as the headache starting and some lightheadedness. She felt her vision darken for a moment, and then felt the weight of the leader's arm around her neck leave.

She felt herself start to fall, but she never hit the ground. She opened her eyes to see Joel helping her over towards a wall, letting her lean against it.

"Don't do that again," she muttered, not looking at him, "I actually thought you were dead."

"I know, but I had to do something to stop you from getting yourself killed," Joel stated, and Ellie saw him go and retrieve her backpack.

"I was doing just fine," she muttered, feeling weakened as she felt Joel start to bandage her up again.

Sean was over in a corner, apparently talking to Fatty, and she saw him glance over at her with a worried expression. She hinted at a smile, and he left shortly after.

That just left Fatty and Joel with her.

"You always seem to be bandaging me up," she said as she stared at Joel, "I'll probably die of blood loss before we get to California."

"Not while I'm still here," she heard Joel mutter, and then saw him nod towards Fatty, who then left the room shortly after.

"Where did he go?" she asked, feeling confused.

"We got all the parts, he just needs to make the car now," Joel stated, making her smile a bit.

She saw Joel put away the bandages, and saw that they were already getting low.

"I keep getting myself into weird situations," she muttered, and saw Joel nod.

Ellie sighed, thinking back to what she had seen earlier.

"Riley…" she muttered, not realizing Joel had been listening.

"You said that name earlier," he stated, but didn't continue. She realized that he was curious, but she didn't feel like explaining right then.

_Besides, I don't know all the pieces,_ she thought, _there are still gaps._

She heard Joel sigh when she kept closing her eyes, nearly nodding off to sleep.

"You get some rest," Joel said as he stood up, "Bill should be done with the car in a few days."

Ellie nodded, drifting off to sleep soon after.

* * *

I actually think I am starting to improve with Joel's POV a bit (don't worry; it will hopefully get better as we continue). I am going to try and finish this fanfiction by the time the game comes out, or at least finish the "journey" part of it. Just to tell you, there will be seasons and time skips in this fanfiction, so not all of the time Joel and Ellie spend together will be written (just most of it). Either way, please tell me what you thought of this chapter and any thoughts or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	12. Welcome to Pittsburgh

Chapter 12: Welcome to Pittsburgh

"We're going to Pittsburgh in this piece of junk?" Ellie asked, feeling satisfaction when Fatty gave her an angry look.

Joel cut off any fighting that would have occurred.

"Yes, and it will do just fine," he stated, making whatever feud that would have started stop.

"Thanks, Bill," she heard Joel say as he walked over to Fatty, and Ellie tuned out their conversation, thinking back to when she had woken up.

_Ellie had slept most of the next day, and she had figured that it had been mainly because of exhaustion and blood loss._

_ She had been curious about what the car was actually going to look like, and Joel had led her outside to see._

_ On the way there, Ellie had caught sight of two dead and half-naked men. Her eyes widened and Joel explained what his plan had been._

_ "I did not need to see that," she had muttered, making Joel laugh a bit, "Couldn't you have at least chosen something that involved not taking their clothes?"_

_ Joel shook his head, making her look away from the dead bodies._

_ "No, it was all I had at the moment," he said, still making her feel disgusted._

_ "So that's how you got the uniforms," she muttered, glancing at the gas mask that was now attached to Joel's backpack._

Ellie felt someone shaking her shoulder a bit, and realized that Joel was staring at her.

"What?" she asked, and when he sighed continued, "I was thinking."

"Of course you were," Joel said as he opened one of the doors to the car, throwing his backpack in.

Ellie followed his example, closing the door and then getting in the seat next to the driver's seat.

Ellie wouldn't admit it, but Fatty had done a pretty good job with getting the car fixed up in the span of a few days.

"What did you owe him anyway?" she asked Fatty, who smirked at her question.

"Why should I tell you?" he asked, making her get somewhat angry.

"So you aren't going to tell me?" she asked, feeling annoyed when he started to walk away.

She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when Joel start to come around the other side of the car.

She saw Joel get in the car and started smiling, rolling down the window on her side of the car.

"Bye, Fatty!" she yelled out the window, and then turned to Joel, "Joel, start the car so I can see him run after us!"

Joel shook his head after giving her a disbelieving glance, starting the truck either way and starting to pull away from the safe house.

Ellie stuck her head out the window and started to smile, but a moment later she got confused. She saw Fatty, who looked extremely angry, but he was not chasing the car.

_Maybe I was fantasizing a bit,_ she thought as a look of confusion appeared on her face.

She brought her head back into the car and sat down; trying to think of what she had done wrong.

"Why isn't Fatty following us?" she asked, and she saw Joel smile a bit.

"Maybe he's not following us because you had the window open when you told me to drive away," Joel suggested, making her eyes widen.

She glanced at the window and realized that he was right.

"Aww, I was looking forward to seeing how long he could chase us," she muttered, making Joel laugh a bit.

"What he's doing right now is exercising his self-control," he said, making her pout a bit.

"It would have been funny though," she argued, and he didn't say anything.

Ellie rolled up the window of the car, wondering what to do now.

"And what did you say about me being 'directionally challenged'?" Joel asked, a look of surprise coming onto her face a moment later.

"Oh, I guess you were there for that, since you were a guard…" she started, trying to come up with what to say. She hadn't been planning on him being in the room when she had said that.

She glanced over and sighed when she saw Joel having an amused looked on his face, still waiting for an answer.

_He's never going to let me forget this,_ she thought, feeling slightly frustrated.

"It was all I had at the moment," she answered, "I was kind of trying to stall time, either for you to escape or come get me."

Joel shook his head, smiling a bit.

"So all you could think of was that I was 'directionally challenged'?" he asked, making her somewhat mad.

"Yes, now can we please drop the subject?" she pleaded, not wanting to be reminded of this for the rest of her life.

Both of them fell silent for a while, and Ellie felt a question pop into her head.

"How long should it take us to get to Pittsburgh?" she asked, wondering if they should have taken at least some Fatty's food in the first place.

"Maybe around seven hours," Joel answered, making her eyes widen in shock, "depends on what we run into on the way."

"Seven hours?" she repeated, slightly shocked at the time, "The trip would have taken us a lot longer on foot."

"Yes, which is why you maybe should have said a 'thank you' to Bill instead of insulting him," Joel prompted, making her gaze wander to the scenery outside in annoyance.

"I don't think that's going to be happening anytime soon," she answered, watching the landscape start to roll by.

"You're right," Joel answered, making her somewhat surprised, "We might not be seeing him for a long time."

"A long time, right?" she repeated, her hand drifting up towards the scar on her right eyebrow.

She could feel Joel's confusion, but he didn't question her about it. Sometimes, she wished he would ask.

_Maybe it would be better to talk to someone about it,_ she thought, but then shook her head, _He wouldn't understand; I barely understand it myself._

Ellie knew that seven hours of sitting around was not going to be pleasant; at least when they were traveling longer she could at least concentrate on walking.

So instead, she focused her time on looking out the window, or by switching to the backseat of the car, which involved her having to climb over the middle console to get to.

"Ellie, can you please stop that?" Joel asked when she was half-way to the back seat for the fifth time.

"Stop what?" she asked, stopping where she was as she stared at him. She heard him sigh in frustration.

"Moving around so much," Joel said with a sigh, "It's somewhat distracting."

"How can it be distracting?" she asked, tilting her head a bit as she made it to the backseat.

She knew that the time between how long she would switch seats was shrinking, so Joel might have to put up with it longer than he would like.

"It just is; every time you go to move around, I need to keep an eye on you, which is hard to do when I need to make sure the truck doesn't wreck as well," Joel explained, making her smile a bit.

"Why would you need to keep an eye on me?" she asked, reaching for her backpack, "All I'm doing is switching seats."

"True," he said, and she felt frustrated when he continued, "but you do tend to get into the weirdest situations."

Ellie pouted a bit, frowning at him.

"That's not my fault though," she muttered, searching through her backpack.

She glanced up from her search when she realized that it was raining, and she could see puddles forming on the road.

"We've been driving for around five hours, right?" she asked, and Joel nodded, "So that means that there is about two to go."

_Good thing we left the safe house early,_ she thought, realizing Joel must be tired.

"Do you need to sleep?" she asked, and he gave her a look.

"I'm fine," he stated, making her frown a bit.

"You could sleep while I drive," she suggested, getting another look from Joel; this one slightly amused.

"Do you even know how to drive?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"No, but you could teach me," she prompted, but then pouted when he shook his head.

She wanted to ask for an explanation, but he didn't give one and she figured that she wouldn't get one if she asked anyway.

The truck suddenly swerved to the right, making Ellie hit her head off of the window. She glared up at Joel when the car was steady again.

"What was that for?" she asked angrily, feeling a headache forming.

"Probably should have warned you first," he muttered, giving her a somewhat apologetic look, "Almost hit a deer."

She gave him a disbelieving look.

"You swerved the car because you almost hit a deer?" she questioned, feeling somewhat confused.

"This truck is in worse enough shape already," Joel explained, "I don't want it breaking down because I hit a deer."

Ellie nodded, still feeling slightly confused but not asking more. She went back to rummaging through her backpack, trying to find something to do.

A smile came onto her face as she pulled out a tape, glancing at Joel a moment later.

"Here," she said as she handed him the tape, "This bring back some nostalgia?"

Joel looked at the name of the music tape and gave her a look, which she took as 'You seriously think I'm that old'.

"No, that was actually way before my time," Joel answered, then looking at the title again, "but it is a winner."

Ellie smiled, resisting the urge to laugh as she watched Joel put the tape into the music player installed into the car.

_That's one thing I'm thankful this truck has,_ she thought starting to hum the tune of the song.

"Where did you get that anyway?" Joel asked, motioning towards where the tape was playing.

"Most of it I collected from the different areas in the boarding schools," she answered, and Joel gave her a confused look.

"Wait, you have more of this stuff?" he asked, giving her a somewhat surprised glance.

"Yes, in my backpack," she said, and Joel shook his head.

"That's why it was so heavy," she heard him mutter.

Ellie ignored his comment, closing the pocket on her backpack instead.

She made her way up to the front seat, and glanced over, seeing Joel give her an irritated look.

"Last time, ok?" she stated, making him shake his head. He probably didn't believe her.

"Would hitting the deer really have been that bad?" she wondered, and saw Joel glance over at her.

"Most likely with the condition this truck is in," he answered, making another question pop into her head.

"What if we hit an Infected?" she asked, and Joel looked at her, slightly amused.

"Sometimes I wonder what you think in your head to make these questions up," he stated, continuing when she gave him an irritated glance, "Hitting an Infected would most likely be around a hundred times worse."

"Why?" she asked, not getting what he was meaning.

"Well, for one thing the car would most likely break down," he explained, "and the Infected would probably not be dead."

Ellie glanced at the speedometer, seeing the numbers listed there.

"What if we were going ninety?" she asked, "Would the Infected be alive then?"

Joel gave a small laugh, making her glance over at him.

"No, it would be dead, but so would we at that speed," he answered, making her laugh as well; not at the fact that they would be dead, but how strange her question had seemed.

"What about a person?" she asked, smiling a bit when someone came into her head.

Joel took a moment to think before answering.

"That would depend on several factors, such as the speed of the car, the angle of impact, and so on," Joel explained, then glanced over at her, "Why?"

"Just wondering," She said, but then continued while trying not to laugh, "So if I would hit Fatty with this truck, what do you think would happen?"

Joel seemed surprised as he looked over at her, a somewhat amused expression on his face. He shook his head, and Ellie could tell he was a bit frustrated.

"I'm definitely not teaching you how to drive now," Joel answered, making her frown.

"How come?" she asked, feeling somewhat confused.

"Because if the only reason you want to drive is so you can run Bill over with a car, then that's not worth the effort," he explained, making her pout a bit.

"That's not the main reason," she stated, "but it would be one of the perks."

Ellie started to laugh, and Joel joined in a bit.

"I swear, back when I could learn how to drive, it was definitely not because I wanted to run my friend over," Joel said with a shake of his head, making her laugh a bit more.

For the rest of the time, Ellie dozed in and out of sleep, somewhat feeling bad that Joel couldn't take a break. She felt Joel's hand shake her shoulder a bit, making her open her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was that the rain had stopped. She also saw a city covered in vines in the distance.

"We're here," Joel said, and then continued when she sat up to get a better view, "Welcome to Pittsburgh."

* * *

I figured I would end the chapter off there, considering if you have watched the trailers then you know what comes next. The song they were listening to is "Alone and Forsaken" (I forget who it is by, and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to put it in the text since they might delete the fanfiction, but it's also known as the "Truck Ambush Song" in the trailer). Please tell me any comments or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	13. Truck Ambush

Chapter 13: Truck Ambush

As Joel slowly drove the truck through the streets, Ellie took the time to stare at the city surrounding them.

She had only been in the city around ten minutes, and was already fascinated by it.

"I wonder what it would have been like before the infection," she muttered, staring in awe at the buildings they passed.

Joel didn't say anything about her comment, and she guessed he was focused on finding the quickest route through the city.

They had been able to convince Fatty to give them some oil before they left, but other than that they were limited on the amount they had.

_ I would be just fine if we could stay here a bit longer,_ she thought, but understood Joel's logic; they didn't want to break down in the middle of the city.

Ellie took the tape out of the music player, figuring that Joel was tired of listening to the same thing for two hours straight, and slipped it back into her backpack.

She put her head in her hands, gazing at the buildings again. Many looked similar, but she was starting to notice subtle differences in each one.

The car suddenly slowed, and Ellie glanced ahead of them, seeing wrecked cars blocking the streets.

"Just perfect," she heard Joel say, and she could tell he was irritated; either from some form of lack of sleep, or from the situation.

"What do we do now?" she asked, glancing around them.

The only option seemed to be to turn around, but Ellie didn't feel too disappointed. She had noticed some other streets connecting to the last ones, but she guessed Joel knew this was the quickest route through the city.

She heard him mumbled something she couldn't quite understand before putting the truck in reverse, turning it around and starting to drive back towards where they had come.

"It's ok," she said, trying to reassure him a bit, "there are other roads connected to this one."

She heard Joel sigh, making her feel somewhat bad. They only had limited fuel and could be trying to find a route out of the city for a long time.

"Sorry," she heard Joel mumble, "I'm just-"

"Tired?" she finished for him, continuing when he glanced over at her, "Trust me, I can tell. You get more grumpy than usual."

She had meant the last part as a joke, and knew that Joel understood that as he sighed.

"Do you want me to put in another tape?" she asked, reaching for her backpack. Joel stopped her with a shake of his head.

"No, this is fine," he answered, "I need to concentrate right now."

_What is fine? Us talking or the silence?_ She wondered, feeling somewhat confused.

Ellie saw Joel turn the truck down another road, making her gaze at the buildings again; except this time they seemed somewhat different.

She wanted to ask Joel about them, but figured that her questions would probably irritate him now, so she kept them in her head for now so she wouldn't anger him.

The car lurched to a stop quickly, making her nearly run into the dashboard.

"Easy," she stated, glancing over at Joel.

_Wonder why he stopped,_ she thought, but then found the reason.

A man stumbled out from behind some of the wreckage; his side was bleeding badly.

The man was saying something, waving them towards him.

Ellie's eyes widened in shock, taking in the sight.

"Are we going to help him?" she asked, glancing over at Joel and seeing him narrowing his eyes.

"Ellie, put your seatbelt on," Joel commanded, making her confused. She did what he said, and then felt surprised when Joel took his foot off of the brake.

"But what about the guy?" she questioned, pointing towards the hurt man on the road with confusion.

Joel looked over at her and shook his head.

"He isn't even hurt," he stated, and Ellie was going to ask what he meant when the car lurched forward, sending them straight towards the man.

_He's going to kill him at this speed,_ she realized, remembering back to their conversation a while ago.

She was about to tell Joel to stop, but didn't when she saw the man pull out a gun, shooting through the windshield a moment later.

Ellie ducked her head, trying to avoid getting shot. She felt a bump and saw the blur of the man fly by, making her glance ahead to see more men.

_What is going on? Are these more hunters?_ She wondered, but then ducked when she saw a brick break her window, sending more glass inside the car.

Ellie felt the car start to lurch again, but thankfully Joel was able to get it going in a straight path again. She glanced over at her broken window, her eyes widening when she saw a bus coming straight towards the truck.

"Not good!" she stated, then realized she should warn Joel, "Joel, there's a-"

She never got to finish her sentence as the bus collided with the truck, making Joel lose complete control over it.

The majority of sunlight disappeared from her view, and the truck jolted to a stop when it ran into the wall of an abandoned store.

Ellie quickly reached for her backpack, feeling a bit dazed.

"I'm ok," she stated, hoping Joel wasn't hurt.

"Good," Joel commented before continuing as he put his backpack on quickly, "Get out of the car."

Ellie started to open the truck door, realizing that whoever had attacked them was probably still alive.

_Except the guy that hit the truck,_ she thought as she started to open the door, _he's definitely dead._

She nearly fell out of the truck as the door was ripped open and someone grabbed her. She quickly twisted around to see someone forcing Joel out of the car as well.

She started to struggle against whoever was taking her, reaching for her switchblade as she was roughly shoved on the ground.

The switchblade fell from her grasp, making her start to struggle against the man again. She bit down on his hand, feeling blood in her mouth as her head got slammed into the ground.

_I need to get the switchblade back,_ she thought frantically as she tried to get out of the man's grasp.

The man's weight lifted off of her suddenly, and she glanced over just in time to see Joel knock him out.

"What's wrong with these guys?" Ellie asked as she walked over towards Joel.

"We're leaving," he stated instead, shaking his head.

She nodded, hoping to get out of the area as soon as possible.

_Suddenly being stuck in Pittsburgh isn't sounding like such a great idea anymore,_ she thought, but tilted her head in confusion when she saw something move behind Joel.

Her eyes widened when she realized what was moving behind him.

"Joel, behind you!" she shouted, but realized she was too late.

She wasn't sure if being made known had made the man move faster, or if it was just that she had warned Joel too late, but either way the man swung the wooden board, connecting it with Joel's back.

Ellie scrambled for her switchblade, but when she looked at the scene again, Joel had the wooden board now and the man was knocked out.

She quickly walked over towards him, freezing when she heard more voices coming into the store.

She sneaked over towards a counter, seeing Joel do the same on the opposite side of the room.

"He's behind the counter!" she heard one of the men shout, making her peek out from behind the counter.

_They've found him already?_ She thought with worry, seeing the group of men start to crowd around the section where Joel was.

She heard a gunshot and saw one of the men fall, making two more left. She saw Joel move towards another section of the counters, and the click of an empty gun rang out a moment later.

_He ran out?_ She thought, wanting to smack herself when she remembered the extra bullets she had slipped into her backpack before leaving the safe house.

Ellie glanced out from behind the counter, seeing one man walking towards Joel's position.

_Where did the other one go?_ She wondered, but then shook her head, guessing Joel might have already taken him out.

Her eyes landed on a brick that was lying on the ground a few feet away. She glanced at the man before quickly grabbing the brick in her hands.

_Let's hope my aim has improved a bit,_ she thought while standing up.

"Hey! Over here!" she shouted, getting the man's attention.

Her eyes wandered briefly over to Joel, who had an extremely angry expression on his face.

The man turned towards her, and Ellie threw the brick as hard as she could, hitting him square in the face.

She heard the man swear, and then saw Joel finish him off with a hit to the head with the wooden board.

She ran over towards his position, seeing him give her a frustrated look.

"You shouldn't have done that," Joel said, and she took it as a scolding.

"You were in trouble," she retorted, then couldn't help adding, "again."

"I had everything under control," he stated, making her reach for her backpack.

"You ran out of bullets," she said, handing him the extra from the safe house just when she heard more people coming.

"They're coming," she warned, knowing Joel saw them coming from over the bus.

He quickly led her near another exit to the store. She crouched down, hiding behind another counter.

Footsteps echoed throughout the store.

"Watch out," she heard one of the men warn the others, "this tourist has some fight in him."

_Tourist?_ She thought, resisting the urge to ask Joel what the man meant.

Joel led her out the exit, motioning for her to stay there. She watched as he snuck back inside the store, hiding where the men could see him.

One of the men came towards Joel, and he silently knocked him out, sneaking towards another section of the store before he was seen.

"Find anything yet?" she heard a shout from one of the men inside the store.

She withdrew her head from the door, making sure not to be seen.

"He's still here!" A frantic shout was heard a moment later, making her hope they hadn't found Joel.

She heard the sound of a body hitting the floor, and she assumed that Joel was done with the group when no further shouting was heard.

Ellie stood up and turned around, planning on resting against the wall until Joel came out of the store.

She felt surprise run through her when she saw a man from the group staring at her with a pipe in his hands. She guessed that he had come into the attack late, and was now surprised to see her.

Ellie glanced down at her switchblade, and then at the man's pipe with a sigh.

_My switchblade can definitely not beat the pipe,_ she thought, figuring she should at least try and hold the man off until Joel came out.

The man seemed to sense her thoughts; a victory smile came onto his face a moment later.

Ellie heard footsteps from behind her, and both her and the man turned to see Joel walk out of the store.

She looked at the man, seeing his eyes widen when he caught sight of Joel's pistol.

The man started to run, and she glanced at Joel, hearing a gunshot and then the thud of the man's body hitting the ground.

"That should be the last of them," Joel stated, then glancing over at her, "You ok?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she answered, following him as they walked towards the man's body.

"Good, because we need to get out of here quickly," he explained, making her nod.

"Where were you?" she asked as Joel bent down to search the man, adding more bullets to their stock.

"I figured that you were safe out here," Joel explained, standing up, "I didn't count on there being a loner though."

Ellie nodded, remembering the man's face when he saw Joel's pistol, and started to laugh.

Joel glanced at her with an amused expression on his face, shaking his head.

"I can't help it; his face was too funny," she said, trying to stop laughing but failing, "He looked like he could have wet himself."

Her statement made Joel laugh a bit as well, and she knew that he had thought the same thing.

Ellie followed him back towards the bus, seeing that it was blocking the road that they came from.

"We can't go back the way we came," Joel stated, and she wondered what they were going to do now, especially without the truck.

She felt a thought come into her head, but figured she should say it when they had a plan of what they were going to do next.

"Where should we go now?" she asked, feeling confused.

It now seemed that they were stuck in the city.

Joel looked like he was about to answer, but stopped when shouts came from inside the store. She saw Joel glance back at the store, then starting to lead her quickly away from it.

"Can't we take them?" she asked, glancing back at the store and seeing more people.

"There's too many right now," Joel explained, shaking his head, "We need to head someplace else."

Ellie's gaze fell on something in the distance. After taking a few moments to examine it, she saw that it was an old garage.

"What about that?" she asked, pointing towards the garage.

She saw Joel glance back to make sure that no one was following them; he then nodded.

Their course changed to the garage, and Ellie remembered what she had wanted to say earlier.

"I'm starting to think we are destined to walk on foot across the country," she stated, and continued when Joel gave her a questioning look, "We only got to travel on horses for an hour, and now after seven hours the car is gone."

"It's possible," Joel commented after a moment, shaking his head in almost disbelief.

When they got to the garage, Ellie realized that the door was locked. She frowned slightly.

"What now?" she asked, turning towards Joel, who had a calculating look on his face as he examined the garage door.

"If I lift it up, then you can unlock it, right?" he asked, and Ellie was reminded of their attempt at that back at the safe house.

"Yeah, I guess," she answered with a nod, and started to walk forward.

After a few moments of just standing in front of the door with Joel doing nothing, she sighed, knowing that he wanted to tell her something.

"What is it?" she asked, glancing at him.

"This time, you need to unlock the door as fast as you can. Those men might find us soon if not," Joel explained, and then added, "No laughing this time either."

"Alright," she agreed, and then continued when he gave her a skeptical look, "I swear I won't laugh."

Joel shook his head, almost as if he didn't quite believe her.

He then walked over towards the door, lifting it up enough for her to get inside. She quickly saw the lock on the door and crawled over towards it.

"It's unlocked!" she shouted once the door was able to be opened from the outside.

She pulled her legs inside so that Joel could close the door.

Ellie couldn't see anything for a moment, and then Joel opened the door, letting the light back in. He closed it part way so that they could still see.

She looked around the room, seeing lots of dead bodies lying on the ground.

Joel muttered something which made her look over at him.

"See, this could have been us," he said angrily while motioning towards the dead people, "I knew I should have turned the truck around."

Ellie guessed that his original plan had been to try and find a route outside of the city.

"We survived," she said, starting to walk over towards one of the bodies.

A question then entered her mind.

"How did you know?" she asked, turning around to look at Joel.

He gave her a questioning look, making her confused.

"About what?" he questioned.

"The ambush," she answered, tilting her head a bit.

Joel didn't answer for a few moments; making her wonder if she had asked him another 'annoying' question.

"I've been on both sides," he answered finally, making her eyes widen for a moment.

"Oh," was all she could say in response.

Ellie turned around so that he hopefully couldn't see her surprise; instead she focused on all of the dead bodies around the room.

"The hunters lure all the people to this area and ambush them," Joel explained, making her nod.

"That's a lot of people that don't make it," she whispered, feeling somewhat grateful that they hadn't met the same fate.

She heard Joel sigh, and glanced over at him, wondering if she should ask what was on her mind.

"So, did you, uh, kill a lot of people?" she asked; her question coming out softer than she had intended it to.

"Check the room, and then we'll get going," Joel stated, ignoring her question.

She sighed, looking away from him.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she answered, walking over towards one of the dead bodies and bending down, looking for anything useful.

"You can take that any way you want," Joel stated, sounding angry.

_That was most definitely an annoying question,_ she thought with a sigh, finding more bullets and some bandages.

She slipped the things she found into her backpack, intending to give them to Joel later if he needed them.

Ellie stood up when she was done and walked over towards Joel. She saw another door that most likely led outside.

_Let's just hope that it leads us away from the hunters,_ she thought, seeing Joel start to walk towards the door.

There seemed to be an awkward feel to the air since she had asked him about his 'life' as a hunter, and she was now regretting it.

"Sorry," she mumbled, feeling at a loss of what to do.

She saw Joel glance at her quickly before opening the door, but he didn't say anything.

They walked out of the garage, and Ellie noticed that they were heading in a different direction.

_That's at least good,_ she thought, following Joel down the abandoned streets.

"What would this city have been like?" she asked, hoping that he would answer.

Joel gave her a glance, before sighing.

"People would be crowding the streets, carrying out their daily lives usually," he answered, making her nod.

Ellie was starting to understand that their common ground seemed to be the world before the pandemic; when one of them didn't feel like talking, they usually referred to that.

"Must have been nice," she whispered, glancing down at the ground, "I wonder what it would have been like to live during that time."

Joel didn't say anything on her comment, and she felt slightly disappointed. He had memories of cities like this before the infection, so why wasn't he open to sharing about them?

"Pittsburgh wasn't just referred to for its football team; lots of cities had those," Joel started to explain, "it was also known for its steel."

"Steel? Like the metal?" she asked, and he nodded.

"If I remember correctly, there actually used to be steel bridges that connected the city over lakes," Joel said, a thoughtful expression on his face, "I'm not sure if they are still standing though, since we didn't cross one on the way in here. We could possibly get out of the city by one of those if we do find one."

Ellie nodded, trying to imagine the city as it had once been. She sighed when she had a hard time, knowing this was mostly because she didn't know what most places looked like without signs of the infection.

She froze when she heard voices again. Glancing behind them, she saw the shapes of a group of hunters a ways back.

"They're following us," she commented, and Joel looked back, narrowing his eyes.

He grabbed her arm and started to lead her towards what looked to be an old pipeline.

"Get in," he ordered, and she followed, instantly not liking the closed space.

Joel got into the pipe a moment later, and she stood up, realizing that the pipe was tall enough for them to walk normally.

Ellie felt water start to coat her shoes as she walked, and she glanced over at Joel.

"Where are we going?" she asked, covering her mouth when she realized that her voice echoed in the pipe.

Joel glanced at her, and she noticed he was trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Wherever this leads," he answered, and then was silent.

She understood why; they didn't want the hunters to hear them.

They walked for a while in silence, and soon came to a concrete hallway that connected to the pipe.

She gave Joel a questioning look, but decided not to ask for now.

Joel suddenly stopped, making her have to stop to avoid running into him.

She gave him a confused look, figuring by now that silent language was better than asking him straight out. Her eyes widened when she heard footsteps sloshing through the water behind them, and she glanced back at the pipe.

Shadows were starting to get closer, and she heard shouts of the hunters when they spotted her and Joel.

"Go!" he yelled, motioning towards a smaller hallway.

She started to run, but then realized that he wasn't following her. She glanced back, seeing him start to pull out his pistol.

Ellie ran back up towards him, pulling on his arm.

"What are you doing? You said that there were too many," she asked, feeling somewhat worried.

The shadows were getting closer, as well as the footsteps getting faster.

"Go!" Joel ordered again, making frustration fill her.

"Not without you," she argued, pulling harder on his arm.

Joel looked at her before following quickly, and Ellie could hear the shouts of confusion from the hunters.

She glanced back and saw a small group start to search the tunnel they had walked down.

Shouts sounded from behind them, and she started to run faster.

Light was streaming in ahead, and she suddenly burst into a small café. Her confusion was brief when she saw Joel burst through the opening in the wall as well.

She saw a block of concrete beside the entrance and started to try and push it. Joel motioned for her to get out of the way, and he then pushed against the box, blocking the entrance from where they had come.

The shouts faded, and everything became quiet.

* * *

I figured I would leave it off there since I haven't updated in a few days. Anyways, Pittsburgh is starting to turn out to be a very interesting (and dangerous) city for Ellie and Joel. What do you think will happen next? And will the hunters still be able to find them? Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	14. Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

Chapter 14: Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid

Ellie stood panting in the corner, feeling exhausted. She could tell that Joel felt similar.

He stood over near the blocked entrance, catching his breath for a few moments.

"That was close," she commented, and Joel nodded.

She started to pace, still feeling nervous. She kept glancing back at the blocked entrance, expecting the hunters to burst through any moment.

"Did we lose them?" she asked, and Joel nodded.

"Yeah, I think so," he answered, still slightly out of breath.

"But we're not in the clear?" she asked, staring at him. Her pacing stopped, and she listened to see if she could hear any more voices; she was relieved when it was still silent.

"Not while we're in this city," Joel answered, and walked over towards a boarded up window, glancing out.

"I don't see anyone," she commented, glancing around the café and seeing a poster.

She shook her head, trying to focus on the dilemma at hand.

"Come on," Joel stated, making her glance over to see him start to walk out of the café where the door would have been.

Ellie followed, glancing around the slightly flooded city.

Cars were filled with water, and the streets were abandoned again. The water now came up to her ankles.

She started to wander, seeing a bridge in the distance.

"How long until they find us?" she asked, referring to the hunters.

"Who knows?" Joel commented, and then continued, "They can either try and get the concrete removed from the entrance, or they could find another way to this part of the city. They most likely know it like the back of their hands by now."

Ellie nodded, stopping in front of an old temporary bus station, studying the side for advertisements.

Her eyes scanned what was on the side, and she glanced back at Joel.

"Look, here's another one," she said, waving him over, "these posters are everywhere."

Joel walked up to her and stared at the poster as well, a flicker of recognition in his eyes.

"I saw this movie before the outbreak," he stated, making her look at him in surprise.

"You did?" she asked, and then continued at his nod, "Did anyone get gutted in it?"

Joel laughed a bit, shaking his head.

"No, no one got gutted," he answered, "it was a dumb teen movie."

She tilted her head, feeling slightly confused. She stared at him for a moment, having the feeling that he wasn't telling her everything.

"Then who dragged you along to see it?" she asked, hoping he would give her an explanation of why he saw it.

Joel shook his head slightly, not giving her the answer she wanted.

"I don't remember," he stated, making her feel somewhat disappointed, "Let's just keep moving."

"Ok," she answered, glancing back one more time at the poster before following Joel.

Ellie climbed up onto a bus after Joel, and both of them glanced at the bridge in the distance.

"That's our way out," Joel stated, pointing at the bridge.

She glanced around in confusion, seeing all the water blocking their path.

"How are we going to get there though?" she asked, and Joel replied with a shake of his head.

She saw him look around before walking towards a broken window, jumping down into the building.

Ellie followed him, looking around in awe when she got inside.

"This is fancy," she commented, glancing around, "you ever stay in a place like this? Before… before it all went to hell, I mean."

Water sloshed around her ankles as she walked, taking in the view of the building. She wondered if Joel would actually answer her.

"No," he answered after a moment, "This is too rich for my blood."

Ellie wondered briefly what he meant, but shook it off, taking in the rest of the place.

"Must've been nice," she remarked, taking notice of the broken staircase.

Joel must have noticed the stairs as well; he glanced around and his gaze settled on a section of the stair higher up, where some of the railing had broken off.

"We need a way out of here," he said, and she followed him, glancing up at where they wanted to go.

"It's too high," she stated, and Joel continued to look around.

"A ladder," he commented, and Ellie followed his gaze, seeing what he meant.

_Only problem is that it's high up as well,_ she thought, but then had an idea.

"If you can get me up there, I can get it down," she offered, motioning towards the ladder.

Joel nodded, still surveying the area.

"I'll need something to stand on so we can get you up there though," he answered, and then said, "Search the place for something we can use."

Ellie nodded, starting to walk around and look for anything they could use to give Joel a bit of a boost.

Majority of what she looked at was either too far up to reach, or it would break too easily.

She heard Joel walk to the other side of the room, and she saw a table laying half-submerged in the water and mud. She walked up to it, about to tell Joel that they could use it, when she saw millions of little bugs and who-knows-what-else glued to the table.

"That's nasty," she stated, plugging her nose at the smell and walking towards another part of the room.

"Ellie, you find anything?" Joel's voice came from the other side of the room.

"No!" she shouted back, continuing to look around.

_I'll tell him about the table of death if it's our last option,_ she decided, looking over when she heard a screeching sound.

Joel was moving a bed through the water, and Ellie wondered how in the world it could have gotten down here.

_Must've been the water,_ she thought, following Joel over towards where the ladder was.

Joel positioned the bed against the wall, making sure that it would stay. He climbed up onto the bed and then motioned for her to follow.

"Come here, I'll give you a boost," Joel stated, and she put her foot in his cupped hands.

She pushed on his shoulder for a moment, trying to get further up.

"Easy," Joel stated, as he pushed her up, making sure that she grabbed the edge.

Ellie pulled herself up, struggling a bit with getting her legs over the side. She got up and turned around, giving Joel a reassuring smile before starting to crawl towards the ladder.

The splash below her signaled that Joel had gotten off of the bed, and she saw him where she was supposed to drop the ladder.  
She started to push the ladder off the edge, making sure that it didn't crash to the ground.

"Here you go!" she shouted, lowering the ladder towards the ground, "one ladder, coming down."

Ellie let go as Joel picked the ladder up, walking it towards the edge of broken railing.

She jumped down after him, steadying herself when she heard the splash she made. Before she could follow Joel, she heard a giant echo that didn't come from them.

She looked ahead to where Joel was now climbing up the ladder.

"Maybe it was just him putting the ladder down," she whispered, hoping she was right.

She walked over towards him, and saw that no one attacked when he got up to the railing. She saw him looked around once he got up.

"You can come on up, Ellie," he told her a moment later.

She nodded, starting to climb up the ladder.

Ellie realized the ladder would shift from time to time since there was nothing keeping it in place, making her somewhat nervous.

She let out a breath when she got to the top.

She started to follow him at a distance as he walked up the steps, a groan coming from the missing part in the stairs.

"Watch your step," he warned, and she nodded, following slowly behind him.

On the way up, she noticed bullet holes in the wall.

_That can't be good,_ she thought, knowing Joel had seen them as well.

Ellie glanced at the next stairway, seeing that it was blocked off. She was going to ask Joel where they would go now, but saw him glance at her and motion at a broken window.

She nodded and followed him through.

A flock of birds in the distance caught her attention, and she was startled when she heard voices.

She quickly followed Joel over towards an outside heater and crouched down behind it, glancing in another window and seeing more hunters moving inside.

"Should we go around them?" she whispered, peeking out from behind the heater.

"No," Joel answered, shaking his head.

He motioned for her to follow him as he snuck over to another group of windows.

Joel picked up a bottle and threw it through another window; the crashing sound making the hunters go to investigate.

Joel quickly came back towards the other window, and she followed him through it, crouching down against a table filled with drawers.

"What was that?" one of the hunters asked.

Ellie saw the silhouettes of the men walk into another room.

"I don't know," another hunter remarked, "Probably rats."

She followed Joel into the hallway and into another room. He motioned towards a closet, and she hid inside.

She peeked out and saw Joel sneaking up on a man in the room next door. He grabbed the man from behind and pulled out his pistol, pointing it at the man's head.

Ellie shivered a bit, remembering her similar situation back at the safe house.

"Not a word," Joel whispered to the man, and led him back into the room where she was hiding.

She saw Joel put the man in a chokehold, and the man struggled for a few moments, becoming still as Joel laid him down.

Ellie couldn't tell if he was unconscious, or dead, but either way it reminded her of the guard back in Boston.

Joel climbed out another window, and she followed him outside, climbing into another part of the hotel through a window opposite the last one. She noticed a hole in the roof, and Joel climbed up through it a moment later.

She briefly wondered if she should stay in the room below, but changed her mind and quickly followed him when she heard voices talking out in the hallways.

Joel led her into a bathroom, and saw let out a breath.

"That was close," she remarked, and Joel nodded, crawling through an opening in the wall and into another bathroom.

She followed, and then detected a foul stench.

She saw Joel walk over towards the drawers, and she then caught sight of two long-dead people in a bathtub filled with weird colored water.

"Creepy," she said, shuddering a bit.

Joel came over to see what she was looking at.

"Guess they took the easy way out, huh?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"It isn't easy," Joel said, staring at her, "A lot of people thought this was better than letting the Infected do it for them. Trust me, it isn't easy."

Joel sighed as he started to walk out of the room, making her curious.

_Is it possible that he tried to get rid of himself in the beginning?_ She wondered, taking one last glance at the dead people before following him out of the room; somewhat glad to leave part of the memory behind.

"Take a look around, see if you can find anything useful," Joel stated as he walked over to pick up a pipe beside a bed.

Ellie stared through into one of the rooms, not seeing much in it.

She heard Joel walk out into the hallway and followed him, both of them hiding when she heard coughing down at the other end of the hall.

"Search these rooms," she heard a man order harshly, followed by more coughing from another man.

_He sounds sick,_ she thought as she saw Joel sneak up to hide behind a counter in the hallway,_ almost like he could be infected._

She stayed back around the corner, hoping to not cause Joel any trouble.

Ellie saw a man start to walk towards Joel, and Joel leapt out from behind his cover, hitting the man in the face with a brick multiple times.

"He's got a gun!" one of the men shouted, everyone in the room then taking cover.

She heard another gunshot, and this time a thud confirmed that one of the men were down.

She heard more frantic shouting, and peeked out to see Joel nearly get hit with a bullet.

_He needs help;_ she decided and started to sneak towards Joel.

Joel would have given her an angry look, but instead he fired the pistol at someone as soon as she got to where he was, making her cover her ears at the painful noise. She glared at him, hiding against the wall now as Joel ran into the room.

Ellie glanced around the corner, seeing two men hiding along the window outside and shooting at Joel. A third man came out of nowhere and grabbed Joel, holding him so that his buddies could shoot him.

Her eyes widened, and she snuck along the inside of the room, trying to find a way to help Joel. The men were pointing their guns at Joel, and she didn't see any projectiles anywhere.

She bit her lip to keep herself from swearing, knowing that would draw attention to her. She glanced over at Joel and saw that he was able to get the man off of him, holding the man in front of him as a shield.

_They wouldn't shoot their friend,_ Ellie thought but then her eyes widened when she saw she was wrong.

Joel threw the body aside and ran into the next room. She tried to follow him, but the men saw her and started shooting bullets, making it impossible to get into the next room.

She didn't dare to peek her head out from behind cover even an inch and she got nervous when the gunshots stopped. She pulled out her switchblade as she heard footsteps coming closer to her; her heart hammering in her chest.

She saw a shadow coming towards her, and whipped out from behind her cover, stabbing her switchblade into someone's arm.

A look of surprise hit her when she saw that she had stabbed Joel's arm, and he dragged her silently outside. She bit her lip, feeling horrible.

"Sorry," she whispered, watching as Joel wrapped his now-bleeding arm.

Joel shook his head, a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"There are still more of them," he whispered, "stay here, unless you're in danger of being spotted."

Ellie bit her lip, wanting to help but nodded anyway, figuring this was payment for stabbing him in the arm.

"What if you need help?" she asked, and knew that he heard the worry in her voice.

"Stay here," he ordered again, and she peeked through the window as he snuck back into the hallway.

_He didn't even answer my question,_ she thought, fuming.

Ellie heard the sounds of more gunshots, and peeked through the window, ducking back down when a bullet nearly hit her.

She heard the sound of an empty gun, and hoped it wasn't Joel again.

"I know that sound," a hunter shouted, making her eyes widen when she realized that Joel was out of bullets.

_Again,_ she thought, wrestling with what Joel had told her to do, and what she felt she needed to do.

Her mind made up, she started to sneak towards the hallway as quickly as she could. She saw Joel hiding behind a counter in the hallway, and one hunter in the room, talking to him.

She took her switchblade out, but thought better of it when she saw a brick lying on the ground.

When her hand went to pull the brick back quickly, pain ran through the bottom of her wrist, making her suck in her breath sharply.

Her eyes widened when she saw her wrist heavily bleeding because of a large shard of broken glass being embedded into it.

_Must have been from the window,_ she thought as she went to switch the brick to her other hand, and fire sprang from the motion, making her swear.

"Is someone else there?" the hunter shouted, making her freeze.

She could tell that the hunter's voice had contained some fear, and she knew that he was the last one.

Ellie pressed her injured wrist against her, peeking her head out but quickly leaning against the wall when a gunshot rang out and a bullet embedded itself in the desk behind her.

She had caught a glimpse of where the man had been and, hoping she was right, chucked the brick in the direction she thought he was in.

The man swore a moment later, and she heard Joel break his cover; the sound of a body hitting the wall a moment later.

Ellie took the time the distraction brought and gripped the shard of glass embedded into her wrist, yanking it out a moment later.

The pain it brought made a pained noise leave her mouth, and she started breathing heavy as she pressed her wrist against her pants again.

"Ellie," Joel's voice came from the other room, sounding somewhat angry but worried, "Did anything hit you?"

The question surprised her; she had thought that he would have started scolding her right from the start.

"No," she answered and realized that her voice was full of pain; Joel's sigh a moment later let her know she was right.

_Nothing hit me except a giant shard of glass,_ she thought, trying to ignore the fire in her wrist.

She leaned against the wall as Joel walked into the room, hiding her wrist so that he couldn't see it. She saw that the place where she stabbed him with the switchblade had stained the bandage he had put on red.

"You ok?" he asked, and she nodded looking away from him.

She heard him sigh and saw him bend down; her gaze then traveled to the bloody piece of glass lying a few feet away from them.

_Please don't notice,_ she thought, realizing that staring at what she didn't want him to see wasn't really helping.

"We need to keep moving," Joel stated, making her gaze wander towards him, "I don't think we'll encounter anyone else."

Ellie nodded, standing up and starting to follow Joel through the hotel. They walked up another flight of stairs, and she noticed the roof of an elevator was jammed.

She followed Joel towards it, and she realized there was an emergency exit leading up into the ceiling.

Ellie started to walk towards it, but stopped when Joel held out his pistol towards her.

"What?" she asked, feeling confused.

"You might want to take this," Joel explained, "I said that we might not encounter anyone else, but you should at least have something better to protect yourself with than your switchblade."

"But what about you?" she wondered, not wanting to take away his weapon.

"I found these back there," Joel said, showing her a revolver and shotgun.

She nodded, realizing that the hunters must have had them.

"Thanks," she said, starting to walk towards the hole in the ceiling again.

Joel stopped her, a somewhat curious expression on his face.

"What?" she asked, feeling somewhat irritated this time.

"You look like you want to shoot someone," Joel answered, making her realize she had been glaring at the floor because of the pain her wrist was bringing her.

"Sorry," she muttered, glancing at the pistol.

Joel gave her an amused look that made her confused.

"You looked like you were just about ready to shoot me too," he stated, making her give him an apologetic smile.

"I wouldn't shoot you," she replied and then continued, "Then I would be stuck alone out here."

They both laughed a bit, and when they did climb through the hole, Ellie felt a lot better. She placed the pistol in an easy-access place in her backpack.

Joel climbed up the hole first, and she followed soon after, seeing him having to press himself against the wall.

When Ellie pulled herself up into the hole, she stood up, the door to the hole then closing with a loud sound behind them. She gave Joel another apologetic look when he glanced at her.

"We should be able to make it through there," Joel stated, pointing towards the opening across from the elevator.

Ellie nodded, pressing herself against the wall as Joel jumped down onto the elevator. The elevator made a sound, but didn't move. He motioned for her to follow.

She jumped down onto the elevator next; the elevator then started to move under her added weight.

When the shifting of the elevator stopped, Joel looked back at her with a disbelieving glance.

"Sorry," she apologized, and Joel shook his head, directing his gaze back towards the opening.

"You find me something to climb on, ok?" Joel said as he started to boost her up towards the opening.

Ellie felt herself slip, and had to push with her foot on Joel's shoulder to regain her balance. His noise of discomfort made her feel bad.

She grabbed at the edge of the opening, being able to push herself half-way up. She was trying to get up all of the way, and was going to ask Joel for help, when she felt his weight disappear from underneath of her.

She heard Joel shout something, and her glance downward let her see the elevator give way and fall, Joel going along with it.

Her eyes widened as she felt herself slipping again, and it took all her strength to pull herself up. She lay panting at the edge of the drop, glancing down to find any sign of Joel.

"Joel!" she yelled, hearing her voice echo.

She could see water pooling down below, and she wondered briefly if he was stuck under the elevator.

_He could drown,_ she thought with worry, _Joel don't leave me here!_

"Joel!" she shouted again when she heard sputtering and gasping from below.

"Ellie!" His voice came echoing up the elevator shaft, and she could hear pain radiating through it, "Are you ok?"

She glanced down and saw his silhouette in the water below; he seemed to be holding his arm.

"No," she yelled truthfully, feeling like she was going to cry out of relief and worry, "You scared me half to death!"

She saw him glance around, and she looked back at the way out, and then down towards him, seeing debris making a half-path between her and Joel.

"I'll come down-" she started to say, but he interrupted her.

"No!" Joel yelled, "Stay up there! I'll make my way to you!"

Ellie felt worry stab her, and the pain in her wrist was making it worse.

"Don't do anything stupid!" she yelled as she saw him start to swim towards the downed elevator.

"I'll try!" Came the answer, making her worry all the more.

She watched as Joel's form receded into the downed elevator cables, staring down at where he had been for what seemed like ages.

"He'll be fine," she said, trying to reassure herself, "He can find a way up."

_But maybe I should find an alternate route in case he gets stuck,_ she thought, starting to stand up.

Her vision swam and she gripped her head, kneeling down on the ground again. She opened her eyes and saw a puddle of blood that had formed beneath her, as well as blood smeared along the edge of the elevator shaft.

_That's why I must have been slipping,_ she thought, feeling somewhat exhausted and dizzy; a realization then falling on her.

"I should have told him," she whispered as she stared down at her wrist, but then shook her head, "But some things are better left unsaid. He has enough to worry about than adding me to that list."

She crawled over towards the wall and used it to stabilize herself when she stood up.

Ellie used her hand as a guide and stabilizer, walking slowly along the wall.

_I have to find Joel another route,_ she thought, gripping her head for a short amount of time before continuing.

She heard a voice up head and started smiling.

"Joel?" she questioned, but fear ran through her when she realized there was more than one voice.

She quickly hid behind some of the debris littering the room, and she could peek through the gaps to see three hunters talking.

"I heard that someone got through the hotel," one of the hunters stated, making the other two look at him like he was crazy.

"You serious?" another asked, and the first one nodded his head.

"Yeah. Heard a man and a girl got through the other groups. Last I heard, they might have been headed this way," he answered, making Ellie bite her lip in concern.

"Well, I'm glad we weren't there for the massacre then," the third hunter stated, and the two others agreed with him.

"We should keep a lookout just in case they come this way though," the second hunter stated, glancing over towards where she was hiding.

She ducked down, hoping they hadn't seen her.

Her vision swam again as she silently pulled out the pistol Joel had given her; blood now smeared on it as she started to load the gun with the bullets she had found.

_Joel, please hurry,_ Ellie pleaded, leaning against the debris as her vision started to darken.

* * *

I know, two long chapters in one day might seem like a lot (which it is to write), but I have a deadline and wanted to get this one out. Anyways, this chapter is based off of the fifteen minute demo in the hotel on the Last of Us website (they have it on YouTube as well I think, and possibly on the Last of Us Facebook page as well). If you have watched the demo, then you will notice this chapter has some differences though (like Ellie didn't stab Joel with the switchblade in the video). Anyways, next chapter will start out in Joel's POV. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter and any ideas you would like to see in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	15. Time Trial

Chapter 15: Time Trial

Joel started to swim through the water the best he could, holding his aching arm against him.

The water was cold, and had soaked him instantly, as well as the fall doing something to his one arm.

_Let's hope it's not broken,_ he thought, gritting his teeth as more pain assaulted him.

The least amount of damage he knew that had been caused so far was that the impact had caused the injury that Ellie had accidentally given to reopen; the bandage he had hastily wrapped around it now stained red.

Joel gave one more glance towards where Ellie was waiting, and then entered the darkness.

Wires were entangled in with the debris, giving very little spaces to move through.

He reached behind him for his flashlight and brought it out, trying to turn it on.

The flashlight flickered for a moment, and then went out, making him quietly swear. He hit the flashlight against the wall, and it finally came on; filling the area around him with light.

Joel glanced back at where he had fallen, seeing the elevator slowly filling with water and sinking.

He shined the flashlight into the water and, despite the murkiness of the water, was able to see something at the edge of the wall near the elevator.

His eyes widened when he realized it was a hole.

_A hole that lets in more water,_ he thought, hurrying his swimming a bit,_ it's a time trial._

Joel realized with dread that he had a long way to go until he found an exit up to where Ellie was waiting, and at the speed that the water was pouring in, he had to move fast if he was going to get out alive.

He continued to swim as fast as he could along the areas he could fit through, finding that the small pockets of traversable space shrinking.

His feet eventually hit solid metal beneath the water, making him have to crouch to continue moving.

The available pockets of air were shrinking fast, and the water was almost up to his neck when crouching along the tunnel.

He glanced back towards the direction of the elevator, wondering if he should have stayed there until the water would have raised enough for him to reach Ellie.

Joel shook his head, continuing to crawl through the tunnel.

As much of a plan that would have been, he knew he wouldn't have been able to continue swimming until the water would have filled up to that level, as well as there had been nothing to rest on.

He would just have to keep moving, as long as he had available terrain and air to do so.

Something hit his foot, and at his glance, he figured out it was a dead body.

Joel pushed it aside, continuing to move forward without feeling a thing.

As he continued moving, his thoughts wandered, and he wondered that if the dead body would have been Ellie's, if he would have felt anything.

Joel shook his head, ridding himself of the thought.

_ She's fine,_ he reassured himself, not glancing back at the body;_ she's just waiting for you to get back._

He sometimes wondered where his train of thought was going lately; and he could tell it had changed significantly since he had me Ellie.

Joel coughed, realizing with some fear that the water was rising even further, and with no sign of getting to the surface anytime soon, he picked up his pace.

He stopped suddenly, his eyes widening in a mix of anger and frustration.

Broken debris was blocking his path, making the route nearly impossible.

The area widened a bit, giving him the ability to stand up and a bit more space for breathing.

"All I need to do is move some of this around," he muttered, starting to move some of the looser debris around to try and make a spot to the surface.

Something shifted underneath him, and as he glanced down, he realized that what he was standing on was what used to hold most of the elevator up.

_I need to be careful if I don't want that falling,_ Joel thought, but then glanced at the water, which was now up a bit higher than his waist,_ but it's not like I have all the time in the world. I need to hurry._

He continued to pull debris out of the blockage area, feeling the unstable metal underneath of him move from time to time.

The water was now up to his neck, and the hole to the surface wasn't much bigger; he could only fit one arm through.

He felt some sort of desperation run through him, but quickly pushed it away, knowing that wasn't what he needed right now.

Joel was removing another piece of debris, but it stopped half-way out, caught in the entangled wires to another piece of debris.

He blew out a frustrated sigh, feeling the water inching up his neck.

_There's not going to be much air left,_ he thought, not even able to turn his head to look down.

The cold was starting to numb his body, making the energy leave him more quickly.

Joel shook his head, tugging on the piece of debris harder until it came out.

The area underneath of his feet rumbled, and then the rest of the debris fell free.

He was reaching forward to climb out of the hole when he felt the debris fall on him; it was definitely heavier than he thought.

Joel felt himself get pulled under; his face was submerged into the water, making it harder to reach the surface.

He struggled, half-blind in the dark water, to try and get the debris to fall loose, this time away from him.

He felt his air supply quickly running out, and he struggled in the debris.

Joel felt as if his lungs were on fire, and his vision slowly started to darken, blending in with the water.

Most of his mind shut down, but some small part of it was still resisting.

_I can't leave yet,_ he thought, continuing to fight,_ I promised that I would get Ellie to the Fireflies. Just let me get that far._

Joel suddenly felt the debris lift, and the small part of his conscious mind grew; the need for air pushing him towards the surface.

He came up gasping, taking in all the air he could.

When he caught his breath, Joel glanced around and realized that the area he had surfaced at was similar to where he had left Ellie, only this time it the area was surrounded by debris with small openings that he could get through.

_Let's hope one of them leads to Ellie,_ he thought, wondering briefly how much time had passed.

He climbed out of the hole of water and continued through one of the openings in the debris.

He glanced around quickly and then stood up when he realized no one was around.

_Now, how am I going to find Ellie?_ He wondered, but then stopped when he smelled something in the air.

Confusion hit him when he realized that the smell was blood.

_And a lot of it, by the smell, _he thought, thinking for a moment to see if there were any signs of where the scent was coming from.

He examined the area he was in, seeing that it was compiled of stacked crates and debris. He realized he was in a hallway in the hotel, or more like the hallway connecting to the elevators in the hotel.

Joel heard echoes from his right: the sounds of a struggle. He could clearly tell that someone was outnumbered from the taunts he heard, but he stopped when he heard a girl's voice.

His eyes widened as he realized that the voice was Ellie's. He started to run in the direction of the fight, pulling out the revolver he had scavenged from one of the hunters earlier.

The scene that he came upon was confusing, but angered him nonetheless.

Three hunters had Ellie trapped in a corner, with nothing but her pistol; the switchblade and backpack were thrown away from the group.

He could see confusion and fear in her eyes, making him almost lose his resolve to take them out first, and silently.

Joel peeked around the corner, aiming the revolver at the hunter closest to Ellie, and fired.

He saw her eyes widen in shock, as well as the two other hunters look back at where he was.

The hunters started to run his way, and Joel got ready to fire the revolver a second time.

Another hunter went down this time, and the third had a scared look on his face.

Joel glanced down and started to reload the revolver, but his gaze was torn from the gun when he heard a gunshot; the hunter falling onto the ground dead.

His gaze wandered to Ellie, who was scrambling for her switchblade and backpack like her life depended on it.

Joel kept his revolver out, glancing around for any other hunters quickly before walking towards her.

He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped where he was when Ellie pointed the pistol at him.

She seemed to be trembling in fear and confusion, and Joel realized that the room was covered in blood.

"Ellie, put the gun down," he stated, and saw confusion enter her eyes.

She stared at him, the gun still pointed, with fear and some recognition.

"Ellie, it's me Joel," he said, putting the revolver away, feeling somewhat confused.

Her head tilted slightly in confusion, and she took a few steps towards the wall when he tried to get near.

Her right arm hit the wall, and he heard her swear as she glanced down at it. He saw her press her arm into her pants, and his eyes widened when he saw blood when it had hit the wall.

_The blood, it's hers,_ he thought as he glanced around the room, seeing blood also where she had climbed up.

He hoped for both of their sakes that all the blood in the room wasn't hers.

"Ellie-" he started to say as he rushed forward, trying to see what had caused her injury.

His sentence wasn't finished as he felt pain spread through the top of his shoulder, and he glanced at it as he saw blood run from a wound; the bullet had just grazed him.

Joel rushed up to her, getting ready to get the gun away from her. He grabbed her arm, but then realized it was a bad idea when blood instantly stained his hand.

Ellie fell forward; the pistol dropping onto the ground. Joel caught her and laid her down on the ground, examining the wound on her wrist.

He glanced around the room, figuring that had been what caused all the blood.

_But if all that blood is hers, then that's definitely not a good sign,_ he thought, slipping the pistol into her backpack.

His other hand came away red, and he realized the pistol was covered in blood as well.

He shook his head, but stopped when he heard Ellie stir a bit.

"Joel?" she questioned, and he could tell she was weakened.

"How long did you have this?" he asked, pointing to her wrist.

Ellie followed his gaze, and he wasn't sure if she had heard him, or if she didn't want to answer.

Joel sighed in frustration, pulling out the gauze from his backpack and starting to wrap her wrist quickly.

_More hunters are in the building,_ he realized, knowing they had to get out quickly.

Once glance at all the blood in the room made him come to another realization.

_The Infected might be after us too, especially with this much blood,_ he thought, helping Ellie to stand up.

She wobbled a bit, but he could tell she was still making an effort to move.

"We need to get out of here," he stated, and her response was a nod.

Joel started to guide Ellie through the rest of the elevator tunnels, finding that they were surprisingly clear of people.

They had no complications, until they got outside.

Joel turned around suddenly and stared back at the hotel when he heard screaming and clicks from inside.

Everything turned quiet a moment later. He glanced over at Ellie and saw that her face was pale, most likely from blood loss and shock.

"They're after us again," she muttered, making him nod.

He knew her statement was true, but the strange way she was staring past him was making him think she wasn't in the present.

Joel started to guide her away from the hotel again, into the streets and towards the wooded area beyond.

* * *

Yeah, I have an explanation for this being shorter than most of the chapters: Joel gave me writer's block, end of story. Next chapter will also be in Joel's POV (since Ellie is most likely incoherent in her thinking due to extreme blood loss), but I will tell you right now that it will be an easier chapter for me to write than this one. I didn't go into a lot of detail of Joel nearly 'drowning' since I nearly drowned when I was young and have a fear of it (also end of story). Either way, please tell me your thoughts and ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	16. Some Things You Shouldn't Say

Chapter 16: Some Things You Shouldn't Say

Joel remembered what he had told Ellie the night before; a simple statement:

"Extensive blood loss can make you say things you normally wouldn't say," he had told her, and she had answered with a nod.

"Or what you shouldn't say," she had mumbled, making him sigh.

He had known that the blood loss would have some side effects, but he was just starting to realize how bad it was going to be.

They had stopped in the middle of the night, taking short breaks and then continuing to walk.

Joel was planning on heading through Ohio and then towards the mountains. Once they were clear of those, it might be an easier trip.

_Nothing is ever easy anymore,_ he thought, and then started to realize that as he glanced over at Ellie.

He knew her mind would be incoherent for a while; for how long he didn't know, considering the amount of blood loss was uncertain for him, but he was starting to realize it was worse than he had first thought.

They had come to another river, and when Ellie had stopped suddenly, he felt confusion.

"What?" he asked, feeling even more confused when she started to glare at him.

"Turn around," she ordered, pointing in the other direction.

"Why?" he questioned, feeling like he was lost for once.

She gave him an angry look, which he countered with a questioning one.

"Because, I need to take my pants off to wash them," she stated, and then continued, "Turn around."

Joel shook his head, feeling confusion again.

"Why do you need to-?" he started to ask, but stopped when he saw the blood on her pants from pressing her wrist against them.

"I need to wash it off," she said, and then continued, "or else the Infected might find us."

Joel was thankful that she was somewhat thinking logically. He shook his head, feeling somewhat of a headache coming on.

"Can't you just walk into the river and wash it off while you're in there?" he suggested, and she glanced at the river, shaking her head.

"It's cold," she stated, making him sigh.

"You haven't even tested the water yet," he countered, "and you're going to have to cross it anyway if we're going to continue."

Ellie seemed somewhat lost in what decision she should choose, making him sigh.

"Look, it's either you get in the river and wash your pants off then, or I don't turn around and see you without your pants on," he stated, and she paused, thinking through her options again.

Joel knew that he would turn around if she did decided to choose her method of getting her pants clean, but Ellie didn't need to know that; it was simply a statement to get them moving quicker.

Ellie turned around and walked into the river with ease. When she was about half-way through the river, Joel started to follow her, but stopped when he felt the cold water.

Of course, it wasn't something he couldn't handle, he was just simply confused of how Ellie was walking through it with ease; after all, she was the one who had complained last time.

"Ellie, the water's cold," he stated, and she glanced back at him, a confused expression on her face.

"No it's not," she answered, making him shake his head, "it's warm."

Joel felt an argument coming on, but then he groaned, remembering that she had lost an extensive amount of blood less than twenty-four hours ago.

That was where all of his troubles began, and it only got worse as they continued through the state.

"So, where did you live before all this?" Ellie asked, motioning to the trees around them.

Joel gave her a look, thinking she couldn't remember the word.

"Before what? The pandemic?" he asked, and when she nodded, he kept silent.

Ellie stared at him for a few moments, before looking away.

"Did you live in any of the places we've been through so far?" she asked, making him sigh.

"Do you remember the talk we had on 'annoying questions'?" Joel asked instead, and Ellie nodded.

He thought that would have been the end to her questioning, but he was terribly wrong.

"Yes, but I think this isn't annoying questioning," she stated, making him give her a questioning look, which made her continue, "It's informational."

Joel sighed as he felt a headache coming on.

"I think you have the meanings mixed up," he mumbled, and she gave him an angry look.

"No, it really is informational," she argued, and then continued, "it's information about your life, which I then learn about."

"Well, I'm not in favor of giving away information about my life," he stated, shaking his head.

"How come?" she asked, making him sigh again; this time in frustration.

"Because the past is the past," he said, repeating what he had told her around a month ago in the beginning of their journey, "You can't change it."

"Oh," Ellie said before falling silent.

Joel thought that he finally had the chance to get some planning done, but he was interrupted again by Ellie's voice.

"That's true," he heard her mumble, but then ask louder, "But why don't you think about it if something from the past is useful?"

Joel glanced over and saw her staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"Sometimes, the past isn't worth thinking about," he answered, seeing her look away.

Ellie stayed silent for a bit, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Maybe you unconsciously think about the past," she said after a while, "without even knowing it."

Joel shrugged, guessing her answer was somewhat true.

"I mean, how would you know how to do anything if you don't remember from the past?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

Joel turned to look at her, ready to say something, but then saw the far-away look in her eyes.

_She's not here,_ he thought, shaking his head.

They had continued to walk clear into the day, with more questions and breaks.

When he glanced at the sky and saw it was dark enough, he stopped. Ellie stopped behind him, and one look at her made him realize how exhausted and disoriented she was.

"We can stop here," he stated, shaking her shoulder a bit when she didn't respond.

Ellie glanced up at him and nodded; a somewhat hazy look in her eyes.

She had then went and sat down, laying her backpack beside her. Joel shook his head and followed, wondering what had gotten into her.

_Maybe it's just another symptom,_ he thought as he sat down, _she'll be better in a bit._

Ellie had long-since fallen asleep when he had started to check to make sure nothing could find them.

_Infected or hunter,_ he thought, and then glanced at Ellie's sleeping form, _and the military soon enough._

When he was satisfied that nothing could find them, he lied down a few feet away from Ellie, giving in to a light sleep.

* * *

Ellie had felt in a daze for most of the day; her questions becoming fewer as the day had worn on.

She was in her mind mostly, finding herself being drawn towards the past.

By the time Joel had stopped for the night, she felt like she didn't have any strength left.

Ellie knew something was up, considering it couldn't have been the walking that would have tired her out.

_We didn't get chased by anything yet,_ she thought as she started to lie down.

She knew it was something more; maybe the memories?

_Always trying to surface,_ she thought as she started to close her eyes, _but never surfacing enough._

Her dreams didn't help either; all they consisted of were blurs and instances, never giving her the whole picture.

She got up in a daze, while it was still dark, and heard soft breathing a few feet away from her.

_Riley's asleep then,_ she thought as she stared at the landscape, somewhat wishing daylight would come; _at least she can't tease me about it again._

Her hand wandered up to trace the scar she had gotten, trying to think back to what had happened.

She shook her head when it started to hurt, clutching it in her hands.

_Why can't I remember?_ She wondered, but then had an idea;_ maybe Riley can help explain more._

Ellie turned around, getting ready to wake her friend up, but froze when she instead saw an unfamiliar man sleeping on the ground.

* * *

So yeah, this chapter had more of Joel's POV and a bit of Ellie's. The reason for that is essentially that Ellie's mind was as described above (her mind was in the past most of the day). I know that some of this chapter seemed like filler, but trust me, it was important (especially the ending) for the next chapter! Either way, please tell me what you thought and anything you might want to see in a review (please)!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	17. Short Recovery and a Shorter Memory

**Legendary Swordsman:** Thanks for the review (I don't mind if it's long) and I'm glad you like this! About the part by the river, I did add the extra words to make sure no one misunderstood (for right now, since there is an instance coming up that is similar). Also, yes I do believe that I repeat phrases some, and I am going to go back and try to figure out how to rephrase them (thanks for the suggestion). Haha and I think I did make an 'idiom error', so thank you for pointing that out (I don't have an official beta, so it's mostly me reading over my work five times). I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

* * *

Chapter 17: Short Recovery and a Shorter Memory

Joel was stirred from his sleep by the sounds of rustling around the camp.

He quickly grabbed the rifle from beside him and glanced around him for any intruders, his eyes still getting use to the sudden dark.

His stance relaxed when he realized that it was only Ellie rummaging through her backpack.

_For the first time she's up before me,_ he thought with a slight smile.

"Hey-" he started to say as he put the rifle down, but stopped when Ellie quickly looked over at him, pointing the pistol at him with horrible aim.

_She needs a lesson in defending herself,_ he thought and took a step forward, but stopped again when Ellie moved away from him, grabbing her slightly open backpack and slinging it over her shoulder.

The pistol was still pointed at him, and Joel saw that she was shaking.

"Ellie, what's-?" he started to ask with a shake of his head, but his question was cut off by her.

"Who are you?" Ellie's voice came out shaky as she pointed the pistol at him, "How do you know my name?"

Joel felt confusion invade him, remembering her asking similar questions the day they had left Boston around a month ago.

"Ellie, we've been over this-" he stopped when he saw her frantically glancing around the camp, almost like something was missing.

"Where is she?" Ellie asked as a glare made its way onto her face, "What did you do with Riley?"

Joel let out a breath, trying to process what was going on.

_It's that name again,_ he thought, wondering how to get the gun away from her.

"Who's Riley?" he asked, getting a disbelieving look from his companion.

"Who's-?" she started to repeat with a shake of her head, and then her eyes widened, "That's right. You would most likely kill us before we could make introductions."

"Why would I-?" he started to ask, but she cut him off with a look again.

"So, how do you know my name?" she asked with an angry look on her face, "Did you torture it out of her before you killed her?"

Joel saw that these words made her upset, but he had no idea what was going on.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then a realization hit him.

"You don't remember?" he questioned, watching as her stance relaxed a bit.

"Remember what?" she asked, and he decided to ignore the slightly mocking tone she had used.

He shook his head, not sure where to begin in explaining and how this was even happening.

_She must have lost a lot more blood than I thought,_ he thought with some irritation.

"I'm supposed to get you to the Fireflies," he stated, watching as she sat down warily a few feet away from where he was now sitting, "My name is Joel."

Ellie didn't answer right away; instead, she was glancing at him with curiosity.

"Riley and I are traveling there too," she answered, but then continued with a shake of her head, "Well, we're really trying to get someplace else than the quarantine zones."

"Any specific reason?" he questioned, knowing she wouldn't answer if he asked in a different way.

"Trying to carve our own path, I guess," she said with a shrug; her gaze on the ground.

Joel shook his head, not quite sure what she meant. Ellie saw the gesture and thought about it for a moment.

"In the quarantine zones, there's not much for us," she explained, making him wonder why she wasn't this open before.

He nodded, wondering how to start explaining to her everything that had happened.

"So, where are all your hunter buddies?" Ellie asked, giving him somewhat of a smile.

"I don't have any," he answered, wondering where the question had come from.

_She didn't seem like she knew about hunters before the start of our journey, so why is she making it seem like she did?_ Joel found it somewhat strange; maybe Ellie hadn't told him everything after all.

"So you're kind of like us then," Ellie stated, and then started to laugh, "except a lot older."

Joel smiled a bit, thinking she might be starting to remember a bit. She did seem to be acting a lot more like herself.

_Then again, I don't know how she acted before first meeting her,_ he thought, a memory nagging at the back of his mind.

He dismissed it, waving his hand a bit. Ellie gave him a look full of curiosity, but she didn't ask anything.

Joel sat and listened to the silence around them, thinking things through.

He glanced over when Ellie started to mumble; her gaze was intent on the ground and somewhat narrowed a bit.

"What are you thinking?" he questioned, and she gave him a wary look.

Joel wondered if this was how he was towards her sometimes; open one moment and not saying things the next.

"If you don't have Riley, then that means the military might have her," Ellie stated as she started to inch away from him.

He saw her eyes keep moving from him to the rifle near him, and back. He glanced at the rifle, wondering what was going through her head.

"What?" he asked, seeing her movement had still not ceased. She glanced at him before looking at the ground.

"You could be working with the military," she said, not looking in his eyes.

Joel glanced back at the rifle, feeling like he could laugh.

"Do I look like I would be working with the military?" he questioned, and she laughed a bit.

"No," she answered, and he saw that the pistol was in her hands again, "but I've learned that looks can be deceiving."

He sighed, knowing that what she was saying was true, but right then it looked as if she could flee any moment, which would not be good.

Joel started to reach towards her a bit, but she pointed the pistol at him again, making him sigh.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he stated, and he saw some anger in her eyes.

"Why should I believe you?" she questioned harshly, making him feel frustrated.

"You suffered extreme blood loss," he said after a moment, and her gaze fell towards the ground.

"Might explain why I feel so lightheaded," she muttered, and he knew he wasn't going to get anywhere anytime soon.

Ellie was glancing off to the side, making him eye the pistol in her hands.

Joel took a deep breath, knowing what he was going to attempt to do next was not going to look good.

Joel lunged for the pistol, trying to knock it out of Ellie's hands.

Ellie seemed somewhat shocked at his sudden movement, but she bent backwards and scrambled away from him, along with the pistol.

Her eyes widened a bit in shock, but she regained her composure.

"You were tricking me!" Ellie exclaimed, anger present in her eyes again.

Joel was now standing up a few feet away from her, knowing that his failure to get the gun away from her was a big mistake.

"I seriously don't want to get shot again," he stated, motioning at his shoulder wrapped in gauze, "and with the way you're pointing that thing, I already know that's going to happen again."

Ellie seemed angered a bit more by his statement, and he sighed, half in frustration and half in anger. She was pointing the pistol at him again, and Joel didn't know how this was going to end out.

_Either I'll be dead, or something needs to snap her out of this,_ he thought, trying to come up with a plan.

"Ellie, put it down," he ordered after a bit, motioning towards the pistol.

Her eyes filled with confusion, and she shook her head.

"No," she stated defiantly, "I don't want to this time."

Joel frowned slightly as he stepped towards her, but stopped when Ellie suddenly held her head; the pistol dropping to the ground.

He had half of an instinct to make sure she didn't fall, but she backed away from him a bit, falling on the ground as she tripped over a tree root.

Ellie stared at him with some shock and worry, and he wondered what he should do.

_Is she back to normal now?_ He wondered, but stopped when she sat on her knees, staring at the ground.

"Joel?" she asked, glancing up at him quickly, but then her gaze adverted to the ground again.

"I guess that answers my question," he mumbled, expecting her to ask what he meant.

He felt inwardly surprised at her silence.

"What did I do?" she asked after a few moments, and he noticed that it came out as a whisper; almost as if she was afraid of something.

"Nothing much," he answered, continuing with, "You did say something about someone named Riley though."

Ellie nodded, taking time to process what he had just told her.

After a while, she leaned her head against her arms, hiding her face from view.

Joel stood in the same place for a few moments, feeling somewhat awkward. She seemed upset about something, but he didn't know how to go about asking her what it was.

"You sure I'm the only one who's directionally challenged?" he asked as he came to sit down beside her, meaning it partially as a joke.

Ellie still stayed silent, making him sigh with confusion and worry.

_What's bothering her so much?_ He wondered, but then an idea came to his mind;_ what if this has happened before? That could be what's bothering her._

"Has this happened before?" he asked, rephrasing the question when she didn't answer, "Do you know of any damage that could have been done to cause short-term memory loss?"

Ellie lifted her head and stared at the ground in front of her, a sad expression on her face.

"I don't think so," she whispered, shaking her head, "Unless-"

He saw her arm start to lift, but then she lowered it back down to her side, another sad expression on her face.

"Unless what?" he asked, knowing there wasn't a more direct way of asking about what she had started to say.

"Nothing," she said quickly, standing up and grabbing the pistol off the ground, placing it in her backpack a moment later.

Joel sighed, knowing she was avoiding telling him something. He shook his head as he got up, wondering why she was still standing.

Ellie saw his curious glance and sighed.

"I'm not going back to sleep," she answered, turning away from him, "I can keep watch if you want to though."

Confusion ran through him at her statement.

_Does she think sleeping is what caused this?_ He wondered; _that combined with the blood loss?_

Joel didn't say what was on his mind, not fully knowing if she would know the answer.

_She is hiding something though; I'm just going to need to wait for an answer,_ he decided as he grabbed his backpack.

Ellie gave him a questioning glance at the movement, and he motioned towards where he had been leading them.

"We can keep moving, if that's better," he explained, and a somewhat worried look was his answer.

"But what about-?" she started to ask, but he knew it had been coming.

"I slept already," he answered, and Ellie shook her head with a stubborn look on her face.

"Probably not as much as me," she muttered, and he decided to ignore her comment.

"Let's go," he ordered, walking a bit and glancing behind to see Ellie reluctantly following.

Joel continued walking, knowing they had to get as far away from the hotel as possible; from the sounds of the clicking he had heard a few hours ago, the hunter could most likely be infected.

He glanced back at Ellie before settling his gaze ahead, starting to remember the landmarks a bit.

_Soon we'll be in Ohio,_ he thought, feeling somewhat saddened and nostalgic, _hopefully then things will get easier._

Joel thought he was ready, but he would never have been prepared for what was going to happen next.

* * *

Something big is coming up next chapter, so get ready for that! Do you have any guesses? Also, lots of important conversations and events are coming up the next few chapters (as well as time skips and season changes), so the journey will finally get underway more. Please tell me anything you would like to see, as well as any comments or suggestions, in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	18. A Turn for the Worst

**Legendary Swordsman:** Thanks for the tip (I actually forgot that dialogue tip actually existed for a while). I'll be adding that in to my edits from now on. Haha school is also weighing me down, being the last few weeks and stuff, but I have a deadline for this fanfiction and it's too fun to not write (I'm trying to get the last chapter done on June 14th).

* * *

Chapter 18: A Turn for the Worst

"They're still coming!" Ellie shouted, nearly tripping on a tree root as she ran.

"Keep going!" Joel shouted from behind her, "We're almost there!"

_Almost where?_ She had wanted to ask, but didn't get the chance as she fell to the ground.

She noticed Joel run past her a bit, but then he came back towards her, helping her up from the ground.

"Thanks," she mumbled, feeling bad since they were in this mess because of her in the first place.

Joel gave her a nod, pulling out his revolver. Ellie reached into her backpack for the pistol, glancing around frantically.

The clicking noises had ceased, but she knew better than to believe they were safe.

Her flitting gaze kept making the scenery around her blur a bit, trying to find anything that could be a threat.

A branch broke to her left, followed by more clicking.

She knew by now that Joel would have moved them in a different direction if possible; the noise would have alerted their followers though.

More cracking branches were then followed by rustling around them.

_Maybe if we stay silent enough, they might move on,_ she thought, glancing at Joel and realizing it wouldn't work.

She held her breath, getting ready for Joel's signal.

The wind picked up suddenly, bringing with it the stale smell of pollen and death.

The clickers broke out of the bushes just as Ellie sneezed, making her briefly wonder if the Infected had smelled them, or if they had been found because she had sneezed.

A clicker ran at her, giving her no time to think as it knocked her onto the ground; the pistol clattered to the ground a few feet away.

Her view was taken up by the blurred form of the clicker as she hurriedly tried to get away from it.

She pulled out her switchblade, trying to stab at the Infected.

Sounds of Joel fighting against the other Infected, as well as gunshots, made her concentration divided for a moment.

Pain shot through her arm just as her switchblade connected with the clicker's neck. The Infected gave out a strangled noise, and then went limp.

Lifting the weight of the Infected off of her was harder than she thought, but she finally got it off as Joel walked up to her.

"You ok?" he asked, and she glanced down at the dead clicker, and then up at him.

"Yeah, I think so," the pain in her arm intensified, making her flinch.

Joel gave her a worried frown, but she got up and waved him off.

They continued walking through the wooded area, and Ellie realized how strange it was that the Infected had just appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did the Infected come from?" she asked, looking over at Joel.

"My guess would be back at the hotel," he answered, making her look over at him curiously.

"The hotel?"

"Clickers attacked shortly after we left, although you might not remember that too well."

Ellie nodded at his statement, remembering a bit of what he was talking about.

"But how did they find us?" she asked, and Joel glanced over at her.

"I'm not sure yet, although-" Ellie cut him off quickly.

"I didn't have any injuries, so that couldn't have been it."

"Just making sure," he stated, staring at her for a moment longer than she would have liked.

"What?" she asked, tilting her head with a curious expression towards Joel.

"Nothing," Joel kept glancing behind her for a few moments, making her guess his answer wasn't true.

_He's looking at something,_ she realized, and caught a quick glance of her still-bleeding arm,_ maybe I should tell him._

Ellie shook her head at her thoughts, figuring she would tell Joel if it got any worse.

_What could possibly happen? It's just a scratch,_ her thought didn't reassure her, and as the day wore on, she could feel her strength fading fast.

The sun wasn't even setting when she had to plead with Joel to stop.

"Joel, I can't walk anymore," she said as she stooped over, feeling out of breath.

A headache was coming on, and she felt her vision and mind become somewhat clouded.

She sat down, watching as Joel retraced his steps back towards her, a curious expression on his face.

He stood in front of her for a moment, probably taking in her miserable state.

"We can take a break," Joel shook his head as he sat down, and Ellie could tell that he was annoyed.

Her arm felt like it was on fire by now, and she considered telling Joel about it; he most likely hadn't seen it in his 'inspection' since she had pressed it against the rock she was leaning on.

"Joel-" she started, but shook her head, knowing she couldn't explain it to him; it would just be better to show him.

She took a deep breath as he glanced over at her, and then bit her lip as she leaned forward a bit, giving him a good view of her arm.

Joel stared at the scratch for a moment; partial confusion registered on his face.

"Joel, I can explain-" she started to say, feeling saddened and slightly afraid at the angry look on Joel's face as he examined the gash in her arm.

"How did you get this?" he interrogated, motioning towards her arm, and she bit her lip, feeling her resolve start to crumble.

"I-"

Joel interrupted her with a shake of his head, anger still present.

"No, just tell me how you got this."

She started to hesitate, trying to come up with an excuse, but Joel beat her to it.

"And I know you didn't just run into a tree. You're not that stupid."

Ellie would have normally thought that was a compliment, but her head was starting to pound.

She glanced over at Joel, seeing that he wasn't going to let her go without an answer.

"I don't know," she shook her head, closing her eyes slightly, "maybe back there, with the Infected."

She didn't know what else to say as she stared at the ground. She felt afraid, not at Joel's anger anymore, but now at how silent he was.

"Back with the Infected?" he repeated, verifying what she had said.

She heard him sigh, and inwardly felt like crying at disappointing him.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he questioned, this time a bit softer than his last interrogation.

Ellie shook her head, not looking at him.

"I wanted to-" her sentence trailed off as she heard him rummaging through his backpack.

Silence stretched between them, and she felt somewhat awkward as she tried to think of something.

One thought stood out among everything:

_I could be infected._

The realization made her glance over at Joel; her vision blurry as she realized what a danger she now was to him.

Her gaze grew curious when she saw him take out something that looked like a dark blue blur to her, and she recognized it a moment later as one of the syringes.

"That's the vaccine," Joel nodded at her statement, clearing her thought process a bit.

"Yep," was his answer as he stared at the vaccine, and then at her arm.

Ellie caught on to his train of thought, shaking her head.

"I'm fine."

"You could be infected." Joel's statement was straight from her thoughts.

"Yeah, but-"

"I'm not taking any chances," Joel cut her off, making her glance away quickly.

"You could just shoot me."

Joel gave her a look like she was half crazy.

"It would save a lot more time."

"I'm not going to just-"

"You said they were hard to get, remember?"

"Yes, but-"

Ellie's gaze turned towards him, cutting him off again.

"Then why waste it on me?"

He seemed somewhat startled at her question, sighing a moment later.

"Come on," Joel changed the subject as he held onto her arm, "Keep still."

She nodded, staring at the liquid inside the syringe.

"It's not tested," she mumbled, and he sighed again; this time one of irritation.

"Guess we're going to find out then," he stated, but then gave her a warning, "This might hurt a bit, but it'll hopefully make you feel better."

The 'hopefully' part didn't make her feel much better, but she didn't have time to reply as the syringe went into her skin, making her gasp.

She stayed still; little pained noises leaving her as the liquid entered into her bloodstream.

She felt Joel pull the syringe out when it was empty, and then heard him say something.

Her vision blurred and spun, changing Joel's form as she fell onto her side. She felt Joel shaking her, which only made the spinning intensify.

The fire in her arm had returned, only this time it was a hundred times worse. Her breath was coming in short bursts, and she felt her vision darken.

Joel's form blurred from in front of her, and she saw him glance behind him a bit.

The pain in her head exploded, and her conscious faded.

* * *

Joel felt two emotions: frantic and angry; frantic because Ellie had just passed out again, and angry at himself for even thinking of using the vaccine in the first place.

He lifted her up, deciding he would carry her for the next part of the area.

"We're too close to stay out here," he mumbled, taking in a sharp breath when he realized that Ellie was heavier to carry than she looked.

Nothing he couldn't handle, but it might slow him down a bit.

His thoughts wandered as he continued carrying Ellie through the woods, spying familiar landmarks along the way as he thought over what had just happened.

_Was that supposed to be normal?_ He wondered, shaking his head, _It's almost like last time, except she passed out this time._

Joel spied familiar bushes, now overgrown with thorns, and started to pick up the pace a bit.

He didn't want anyone finding them now, especially since it seemed Ellie would be out for a while.

"Finally," he muttered, glancing down at Ellie's still form.

_Let's hope you can make it through this,_ he thought, starting to walk down the hill into the now-open clearing.

His gaze wandered as he recognized where he wanted to bring Ellie: an old barn in the middle of the clearing and forest, separated from the dying world.

* * *

I figured I will leave it off here, considering it seems like a good place to stop. So, Ellie just passed out (either from the effects of the vaccine, her injuries, or both), and Joel seems to know the area pretty well. Please tell me what you think will happen next, as well as any suggestions or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	19. Fireflies

Chapter 19: Fireflies

Ellie felt her head pounding as she sat up.

Feeling something scratchy beneath her, she opened her eyes to see that she was lying in hay.

Confusion entered her as she looked around, seeing she was in some kind of run down building.

The only familiar aspect in the room was Joel, who was leaning against a pile of old boxes a few feet away.

"Where are we?" she asked, feeling slightly groggy.

"Ohio," he answered, and she nodded, wondering when they had got to the barn.

"What happened?"

The question seemed to hang in the air for a moment, and Joel sighed before answering.

"You passed out-"

"I remember that-"

"-And threw up thirteen times-"

"Wow, I'm surprised you kept count-"

"-And you were infected."

She had kept adding her thoughts, interrupting him a bit, but his last statement made her silent.

"I was infected," she repeated slowly.

Joel answered her with a nod, still staying where he was.

A question was nagging her at the back of her mind, bothering her enough until she had to ask it.

"How am I still alive?" she questioned, not remembering much about what had happened.

They had gotten attacked, she remembered that, but other than that she didn't remember much.

"The vaccine," Joel answered, coming now to sit beside her.

"It actually works?"

"That's what I'm guessing, considering you're doing fine. You were in and out for three or four days though."

Ellie stood up, observing the building they were in. It seemed to smell bad, and she was starting to guess by the hay what this place was.

"Are we in a barn?" she questioned, and Joel nodded, making an amused look come onto her face, "How did you find a barn?"

Joel shrugged, ignoring her question.

"How are you feeling?" He was changing the subject again, but she decided to go along with it anyways.

"Better," she answered, still marveling over the barn.

_I've never been inside one before, but the pictures in the books were accurate,_ she thought, spying a second floor to the barn being connected by an old ladder.

All of her attention was drawn towards the second floor; her mind was already buzzing with what could be up there.

Joel walked over towards her and saw what she was staring at. He tapped her shoulder, pulling her attention away from it.

"We need to work on your aim," he stated, and she stared at him for a moment, slightly confused.

"My aim?" she repeated, and Joel nodded.

"To help protect yourself; not everything's going to stand still waiting for you to shoot it."

Ellie nodded, still not quite getting where he was going with this.

She walked over towards her backpack and pulled out the pistol, showing it to Joel. He shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Wait here," he stated, starting to climb up the ladder and onto the second floor.

Ellie had to keep herself from laughing; Joel almost looked as excited as a kid opening presents on Christmas.

She heard him rummaging through something above her, muttering things under his breath.

The sounds above her ceased, and she saw Joel start to climb down the ladder carrying two rifles.

He walked over and handed her one, making a bewildered look come onto her face.

"What are we going to do with these?" she asked, and Joel motioned towards the barn doors.

"Come on, I'll show you."

Ellie followed Joel outside, and she heard him mumble something as he opened the doors. It took a moment for her to realize what he had said:

"Glad these were still here."

_Does that mean he's been here before?_ Joel's statement left her even more confused as she stared down at the rifle, slinging it over her shoulder as she walked into the daylight.

Ellie had to shield her eyes for a moment; the sun was blinding her.

_Must've been from being asleep for so long,_ she thought, jogging to catch up to Joel.

From the direction they were going in, she saw that they were headed to the edge of the clearing bordering the forest.

Joel stopped her when they got under the first few trees, and she glanced back quickly to see she could still see the barn.

Joel tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

About an hour of explaining later, Ellie had grasped the basics of using the rifle, but she was still confused about the purpose.

"So, what are we going to do with these again?" she asked once Joel seemed done with his explanation.

Joel shook his head, a faint smile on his face.

"Mostly hunting, or taking out enemies," Joel explained, and then pointed to a tree, "Shoot there."

"The tree?"

She did as Joel asked when he nodded, pointing the rifle towards the tree and looking at it through the scope. She glanced up at him for a moment, a bit unsure of what to do despite having the explanation.

"Like this?" she questioned, wanting to make sure not to do anything wrong.

"Yeah," he answered, and just as she was about to pull the trigger startled her when he said, "Wait."

She gave him an irritated look as he walked further into the trees, motioning for her to follow.

"Come on," Joel said with a wave, "We're going hunting."

Her confusion quickly turned into shock as she glanced first at the rifle, and then at Joel.

"But I haven't even practiced," she argued, staying where she was.

"Hunting will give you practice," he explained, "At least if you hit something while hunting, it'll help us more than shooting at a tree."

Ellie glanced back at the barn, wondering if they should get their other things, just in case they decided to continue moving; although with the way Joel was acting, she guessed that they would stay at the barn for a little longer.

Reluctantly, she followed Joel through the trees, glancing about her for anything that could be food, or even an enemy.

She quickly caught sight of Joel, who looked a lot more relaxed than usual.

_There is definitely something about this place that I don't know,_ she thought, _or maybe he just knows the place well enough._

Joel stopped in front of her, crouching down and taking cover behind a thick tree.

Ellie followed him, seeing he was watching something. Following his gaze, she saw a deer in the distance; it's fur hugging it's ribcage from lack of food.

_It's skinny, but it's still a deer,_ she thought, looking over a Joel.

He motioned with his head towards the deer, and she pointed the rifle at it, peering through the scope.

Time seemed to slow down in that instant; all of her attention was focused on the deer, the way its breath came in and out, how its head would drift to the side sometimes looking for dangers, and how it would paw the ground with its hooves.

Ellie took a deep breath through her nose and concentrated, her finger pulling the trigger back.

She heard a gunshot and quickly brought her head away from the scope, looking at the deer to see that she had…

Missed.

Anger filled her as she saw the deer's head swerve towards where they were hiding, its tail was slightly lifted into the air. Then, as if sensing her overbearing wave of emotions, the deer turned around and started to run away, its white tail fully in the air.

Ellie watched it run, not sure of what to do, when she suddenly heard another gunshot that made her cover her ears.

When the ringing had somewhat subsided, she saw the deer fall to the ground. A glance back at Joel's amused expression only made her more angry.

She stared at the deer, and then at his rifle, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Joel looked at her, apparently sensing what she was feeling. He started to walk towards the deer, pulling it some ways into the trees.

"It's ok, you just need a little practice," Joel said encouragingly.

Ellie had tried to keep his statement in mind the rest of the hunting trip, but failing so many times was starting to take its toll.

When she finally hit something, a multi-colored bird, she felt a smile coming on; that was, until she saw the bird start to fly away a bit, only injured.

She stared at it flying, her mouth slightly open. She then took aim again, wondering how in the world she was going to hit it flying, and pulled the trigger.

An empty click made her eyes widen as she pulled a few spare bullets from her pocket, starting to reload them.

Just as she was putting in the last one, she heard the same distinctive gunshot, making her close her eyes and bite her lip. She didn't even glance at him this time as she watched the bird fall from the sky.

She let out her breath slowly as she walked behind Joel towards the dead bird. So far, they had caught a deer, squirrel, and bird, and Joel had taken all three of them down.

_Practice doesn't seem so fun anymore,_ Ellie thought with mild frustration that she couldn't hit anything.

She turned around, expecting Joel to say some kind of cheesy "don't give up" speech like he had the last few times. Surprise registered on her face when he didn't.

"Follow me. I want to show you something." He said instead, and she followed him through the forest for a bit.

Little rays of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, and Ellie saw it was tinged orange, meaning that the sun would set soon.

"Here we are."

Joel's sudden comment brought her back to her senses, and she saw they were in a small clearing, trees surrounding them. Two logs were situated across from each other, and long-dead leaves formed a circle in the center of them.

"Where are we?" she asked, going to sit down on one of the logs.

Joel walked over towards the edge of the small clearing and brought back a few deteriorating logs, placing them in the pile of dead leaves. He then produced two pieces of burnt stone and started to strike them together.

Ellie felt confused for a moment, until she saw small wisps of smoke start to rise from the dead leaves, and soon enough, a small fire was going.

She sat mesmerized for a moment, staring into the orange and red flames. Joel sat down on the log opposite hers.

"You've been here before, haven't you?" she asked, and Joel glanced at her for a moment before answering.

"Yeah, a long time ago," he stated, and Ellie had somewhat hoped he would go into more detail. Joel stayed silent on the topic however.

"Is that how you knew how to find the barn?" she prodded, looking over at him from across the fire.

Joel nodded, meeting her gaze.

"I used to go there before the outbreak," he explained, and her gaze fell to the ground, a thought entering her head.

"So, what you mean is that you lived here?" It was just a guess, but from what she had seen so far, it seemed it could be true.

Joel froze for a moment, almost as if he wasn't expecting her question. He nodded shortly after, and then stood up, walking over towards his backpack where he had tied the bird and squirrel. They had left the deer closer to the barn.

He walked over with the bird, squirrel, and some sticks, and was able to situate them so they were hung over the fire.

Ellie guessed that it was the closest thing to cooked food that she had eaten in a while.

She threw the bones in the fire once she was done; a somewhat guilty and sad feeling coming over her.

It must have shown on her face; Joel glanced over at her with a curious expression.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, and Ellie almost didn't want to answer at first, believing that he would find it ridiculous.

"I kind of feel bad," she stared at the ground, continuing when Joel didn't say anything, "about killing them."

She heard Joel sigh, and she couldn't tell what emotion was behind it.

"Yeah, I know," Joel answered after a while, "but it's either us, or them."

She bit her lip, knowing what he had said was true.

_That doesn't make it any easier though,_ she thought, still feeling a twinge of guilt.

Joel stood up and pulled out his canteen, pouring water on the fire; the smoke resulting afterwards making her cough slightly as she waved her hand around to get rid of it.

She picked up her backpack and followed Joel back towards the barn.

* * *

The sun had disappeared and left a light darkness in its wake, so it was easier for Joel to see.

They had come back to the barn around an hour ago, just as the sun had been setting. They had both went inside, and Joel was occupying himself with planning where they would go next, and when they should leave.

_I know that moving on tomorrow would be the quickest possible route, but I think we can stay here a bit longer;_ Joel glanced around to try and find Ellie, but then figured she was still up on the second floor.

The second floor only held old hay, but it would be safer up there than on the first floor.

_It might be best to head up towards Nebraska, and then make our way to California from there;_ Joel figured he would leave the temporary plan at that.

He stood up, jogging over to the ladder and climbing up, ready to inform Ellie of their route.

He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw that she wasn't up on the second floor. Her backpack was lying in the hay.

Joel walked over towards the hay, brushing around in the huge piles while thinking that Ellie might be hiding in one of them; sort of like a childish behavior.

_She has acted somewhat like a child in the past, even if she doesn't want to admit it; all children usually do something like that._

His confusion turned into worry when he had searched all the piles of hay, not finding Ellie in any one of them.

He quickly ran towards the ladder, nearly jumping down it, as thoughts raced through his head.

"Joel!" he heard her shout; her voice coming from outside.

He quickly ran towards where he heard her, expecting trouble as he pulled out the revolver.

"Joel, look! Fireflies!" Ellie's exclamation as she pointed at the harmless flying bugs made him relax a bit, but anger soon replaced that feeling.

"What are you doing out here? You're supposed to be inside," he stated, walking over towards her. He had been prepared to yell, but her child-like excitement had made him stop.

She gave him a sheepish glance, and then looked back at the glowing bugs swirling around them.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she apologized, although he could tell all of her attention was on the fireflies.

He sighed, smiling slightly and wondering why he had been worried in the first place. She could clearly take care of herself.

"Well, come on," he said after a while, "let's go inside."

Ellie looked at him and then back at the fireflies for one last time, following him inside as the sky darkened; the only bright light being the glow of the fireflies.

* * *

Sorry I haven't updated for a few extra days; school has started to get busy what with the end of the year coming on. Hopefully I'll be able to get most of that done and then work on this more. This might be considered a filler chapter, but I thought it was cute in a sense. Either way, please tell me your comments and ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	20. A Change of Plans

Chapter 20: A Change of Plans

Two days had passed, and so far Joel thought that Ellie was improving with her rifle skills.

She had managed to at least hit most of the animals they saw, and even had managed to take down a smaller deer.

Joel was planning on them leaving the barn in one or two days, considering that would be long enough for them to properly prepare and then leave without anything finding them.

If he was correct in his thinking, then the barn was most likely well hidden and would hopefully not be found while they were there.

His guess was now proving to be wrong; he turned around when he heard clicking in the distance, echoing off the hills.

His glance over at Ellie told him that she had heard them too; the only thing that seemed different was that she looked she wanted to smack herself.

Thankfully, they were in the clearing near the barn and were able to get back to it, but Joel was still mindful of the clicking noises coming ever closer.

He was silently hoping that the clickers wouldn't find the barn and, in the event that they did, would not come exploring.

_There's no way for them to know for sure that we're here,_ he thought as he closed the door, motioning for Ellie to climb up the ladder.

She looked at him with worry, and he saw her glance at the ground, almost as if she had something on her mind.

She opened her mouth to say something, but froze when the clicking noises sounded from outside the barn door.

Joel ran over towards the ladder, making sure she got up safely.

If the Infected were able to get inside the barn, then he had two options; one was to shoot them down if there weren't too many, and the other would be to wait up on the second floor until the Infected left.

"Aren't you coming?" Ellie's voice came down as a frantic whisper, and he started to wonder what was making her more on-edge than usual.

He was about to explain to her the two 'plans' he had in mind, but he heard hurried scratching followed by more clicks at the barn door.

One look at it and he knew the Infected would be able to get in easily. He quickly glanced up at Ellie and then started to climb the ladder.

When he got up to the top, he grabbed the ladder and started to pull it up onto the second floor.

"I think the Infected aren't smart enough to climb ladders," Ellie whispered as she gave him a glance.

He slid the ladder over to one of the corners, making sure that it couldn't fall through the somewhat unsteady flooring.

"Just in case," he muttered, and then watched as the wood was slowly broken away to form a human sized hole in the door.

The Infected came pouring in moments later, whipping their heads around as they searched the area. Joel guessed there were at least eight of them.

_Way too many to take on._

He had Ellie slide backwards a bit so she wouldn't fall through the hole.

Joel noticed that most of the Infected were underneath of them, sending out clicks. He heard Ellie take in a sharp breath, and he glanced over to see if anything was wrong.

He didn't notice any injuries, and even if he had any the Infected wouldn't be able to sense his blood as well as they could Ellie's.

The more he observed their behavior, the more he realized that something had led the Infected to the barn, and towards them.

_But what? Unless Ellie forgot to tell me she got injured again._

It seemed to be a common enough theme, and he wasn't sure if guilt or something else made her hesitant to not tell him about her injuries, but he was getting better at discerning that kind of thing.

He saw the some of the Infected whip their heads upwards, directly towards where they were hiding.

Joel saw the group of Infected start to gather underneath of them, clicking as if they knew they were there.

_Not good,_ Joel thought as he wondered what to do next.

He felt Ellie's hand on his shoulder and she motioned for him to back away from the hole. He reluctantly did as she said, but anger soon filled him when he heard a giant screeching sound.

He looked over to see Ellie pulling a slab of wood over the hole, not making them able to get out.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, "Now they know we're here!"

"They already knew in the first place!" Ellie retorted angrily, and he wondered what was making her act this way.

Joel shook his head, glancing around for another way out of the barn. Ellie beat him to it, walking over towards one of the hay piles and brushing it away, revealing a hatch.

"When did you find this?" He walked over towards her, frowning slightly.

"Yesterday," she looked at him, and then started explaining, "I was moving the hay around-"

Joel cut her off, smiling a bit as he figured out what she was trying to hide.

"You were playing in the hay, weren't you?"

His statement made her frown at him, clearly angry now.

"_No_, I was moving the hay around," she retorted, not liking that he had figured it out. She shook her head, continuing.

"Anyway, I found this. It leads outside."

Ellie opened the hatch and Joel felt a slight wind blowing as he stepped outside, shaking his head in amusement.

_After all those years of growing up here, you think I would have known about that hatch,_ he thought, smiling a bit, _I guess that just goes to show some people look at things in different perspectives._

That's when Joel realized that they had another problem, and Ellie voiced it for him.

"Only problem is that we're on the second floor."

Joel glanced around, looking for anything like a ladder to help them down. His thoughts went back to the ladder inside, but he knew instantly that it wouldn't fit through the hatch; he had a hard enough time getting out in the first place.

His eyes scanned over the walls of the first floor beneath them, and he saw vines growing upwards along the barn.

"We could climb down using the vines," he stated, starting to walk towards the side of the barn.

Joel glanced down at the unsteady vines, and then back at Ellie.

"I'll go down first to make sure it's safe," he got a nod from her, trust showing in her eyes.

He lowered himself down to the vines, grabbing hold of the thick ones and finding a foothold. He glanced up at Ellie reassuringly, realizing how similar this seemed to the hotel in Pittsburgh.

He made his way down the vines slowly, knowing that if he fell from this height it could possibly kill him. He saw that Ellie kept glancing back at the hatch and then down at him, and he realized that the clicking noises were still inside the barn.

_Let's hope it stays that way long enough for us to escape,_ his thoughts gave him determination to finish quicker.

He let out a breath when he got to the bottom, glancing up at Ellie and motioning for her to come down.

"Be careful, some of the vines aren't very steady," he explained as she lowered herself over the edge and started to climb down.

Joel suddenly wished that he would have stayed with her or that he could help her in some way.

_She needs to do this on her own,_ he shook his head,_ but I do wish I could help in some way._

He briefly thought of telling her what path he used to get down, but then knew he couldn't remember all of them correctly. He didn't want it weighing on his conscious if she fell because he told her the wrong move.

Ellie was approaching the mark towards the first floor, and Joel knew she was half-way there.

The clicking from inside the barn grew a bit, and Joel wondered briefly if the Infected had found them. His glance towards the entrance of the barn made him feel a bit at ease; they were safe for now.

He heard Ellie give a startled cry, and horror filled him as he watched her lose her balance, falling backwards off the wall.

Joel didn't have time to think; he acted on instinct, rushing forward and catching Ellie before she hit the ground.

The sudden weight made his legs nearly buckle out from beneath him; Ellie's backpack had lessened the blow a bit, and he for once felt grateful for whatever she had in there.

The sudden noise made the clicks become louder, and Joel realized that the Infected were suspicious now.

"Come on!" he whispered quickly as he let Ellie stand, making sure she didn't fall.

Her shaking hand grasped his arm, and he led her towards the edge of the clearing and into the woods.

_The river should be this way;_ his mind was going off of memory this time, forming a plan to get them out alive.

His memory was correct; he stopped at the edge of the river, giving them time to catch their breath.

He glanced over at Ellie to see she was still shaking, and he realized that the fall had scared her more than he had first thought.

"You alright?" he asked, and she nodded, still too out of breath to answer.

Joel listened to the sounds around them for a moment, not hearing the clicking noises anymore.

_They must still be at the barn,_ he realized, feeling relief flood him.

They still had to keep moving, but they would be long gone before the Infected found out they were here.

"How did they find us?" he muttered, trying to go through possible solutions and not finding any.

"You don't have any injuries, do you?" he questioned Ellie, who by now looked extremely exhausted.

"No-"

He cut her off, trying to figure out if she was telling him the truth.

"Then how did those clickers find us? They can't sense my blood, and they knew somehow we were there."

His statement made her look away, and he realized she looked like she would almost cry. He opened his mouth to rephrase his questions, but stopped when she mumbled something.

"What did you say?" he questioned, and she sighed.

"I said it's not my fault."

Confusion entered him at her sentence, and he briefly wondered if she had taken the questioning wrong.

Joel stared at her, realizing how uncomfortable she seemed. She was hugging her arms tightly and she wasn't meeting his gaze.

_What is wrong?_ He wondered, but then stopped when he saw something dark on her pants,_ Blood?_

The answer hit him in that instant, and he glanced at the river, sighing in frustration.

Ellie seemed to realize that he understood now; she glanced at him with a slightly red tint on her face from embarrassment.

Joel sighed, figuring he might as well get what he had to say out of his mind.

"Did you bring anything to, uh, help?" he asked, feeling slightly awkward. He knew she felt the same.

"No, I didn't really have time to," she stated, confusing him for a moment, but then she continued, "A stranger kind of walked into my temporary home and told me I had to leave, so it never crossed my mind."

Joel took a deep breath, knowing what she was saying was true; it still didn't make the situation any better.

He motioned towards the river, and she stared at him for a moment, not quite understanding what he meant.

"Go get washed off," he prodded, seeing the embarrassment on her face return as she walked into the river.

Joel waded to the other side, realizing this river was a bit deeper than the others they had come across.

He waited for her on the other side, trying to come up with a solution.

Ellie finally walked out of the river, sitting on the ground beside him.

"Any ideas?" he asked, feeling somewhat lost for once. She glanced over at him, a slightly amused expression on her face.

"No, you're the one who has the most experience."

He sighed, feeling slightly irritated. She realized her mistake a moment later.

"Sorry, it's just not very fun."

Joel nodded his head, not quite sure of what to say. He opened his backpack, searching through it for something that might help. His eyes fell onto the gauze, and he picked it up.

He held it out towards Ellie, and motioned with his head at it. She gave him a confused glance, which only made him sigh.

_Why do I have to deal with this?_ He wondered, feeling a headache coming on.

He motioned at the gauze again, and then pointed towards a group of trees behind them.

Ellie finally understood what he meant; she grabbed the gauze and stood up, walking towards the trees.

Joel had his back towards her, and was currently leaning against a tree waiting for her to be finished.

He heard Ellie muttering curses under her breath for a moment, and then the sound of ripping gauze. He didn't turn around until Ellie tapped his shoulder.

She still looked slightly embarrassed, but she seemed a bit calmer now.

They continued walking again, and Joel realized how silent they were.

_Will I regret it if I tell her it's better when she's talking?_

The question popped into his mind, but he didn't dare say it out loud. It was true that the time passed quicker when they were talking, but he figured neither of them wanted to at the moment.

"Sorry," Ellie's mumble startled him a bit, and he glanced back at her, realizing how miserable she looked.

"For what?" he questioned, and she shrugged, not explaining.

He decided to change the subject for both of their sakes.

"We've just had a slight change of plans for now," he stated, and saw curiosity appear in her eyes.

"A change of plans?" she repeated, making him nod.

"We're going to try and make our way towards Nebraska, and then plan what we'll do next from there."

Ellie nodded this time, an unreadable expression on her face.

"That's a long way off," she remarked, making him laugh a bit.

"Yeah, but at least it's a start."

She looked at him, and he instantly knew a question was on the tip of her tongue.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't regret it.

"You never answer my question," she stated, and at his confused glance continued, "Why did you waste the vaccine on me?"

He remembered her asking that earlier, and sighed, not quite sure of what his answer was. It seemed to be mixed up; some part of him wanted to say that it was because he promised, and the other part wanted to say something else.

The clear answer hit him instantly, and he stopped walking. Ellie walked past him a few paces, stopping and then staring at him. He knew she was waiting for an answer.

"I wasn't going to let you just die."

The statement made Ellie pause, and she looked away from him. He couldn't tell what was going through her head, so he continued walking.

The statement gave him some sadness, and he sighed as he stared up at the sky, hidden by the trees.

_ I promised that I would get her to the Fireflies, and that's what I'm going to do. I already failed once to protect someone, but I won't let them take her away. Not this time._

* * *

This whole chapter was in Joel's POV (which I have to say that I am very pleased with it). I would like to know: am I improving for writing in Joel's POV, or does the constant switching make it slightly confusing. I try to write the instances in whoever's POV would fit best for the moment (as well as not to give away any spoilers). Please tell me what you think, as well as any comments, in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	21. Simply Don't Care

Chapter 21: Simply Don't Care

It had been nine days since their run in with the Infected at the barn, and that was nine more days of walking.

Ellie really didn't mind that much anymore; walking allowed her to sort out her thoughts, and then find things to ask Joel about.

She also figured that they were both relieved that their awkwardness had faded for now and that they were somewhat safer, at least until next month.

The amount of Infected they came across had dwindled in the past few days, and so far she hadn't seen any since the day had started.

Thoughts had been flitting about in her mind, and she had kept glancing over at Joel every once in a while.

He apparently got tired of it fast; his sigh was the signal.

"What?" he asked, and she could tell he was fed up a bit. Apparently she was being more annoying than she had first thought.

"Just thinking," she answered absentmindedly, her eyes scanning the trees as she walked.

Personally, this time she was hoping to get Joel to start talking this time, considering she felt like it was always her that started and carried their conversations.

_Unless I get upset, then he usually starts talking, but that doesn't count much,_ she thought, her gaze drifting back towards the little rest stop they had just finished at.

The smoke from the small fire Joel had built was rising into the air, slowly disappearing into the atmosphere.

Ellie realized that the fire had been their second one made; the first being the one at the little clearing near the barn. Joel didn't appear too excited and even almost hesitant at times to start a fire, but she had finally been able to convince him.

"Why don't you like using the fire?" she asked suddenly, trying to focus her thought process away from what had drawn her attention the night before.

Joel took a deep breath, apparently thinking over his answer.

"It does more harm than good."

His statement confused her; her head tilting to the side a moment later as she stared at him.

"How so?"

"It can attract unwanted company, and even burn down a temporary living arrangement, among other things."

She nodded, somewhat satisfied with his answer. One glance at Joel made her pause for a moment.

Joel stopped and looked back at her, seeing her frown slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she answered, staring directly at him, "but did something like that happen to you once?"

Joel didn't answer right away; instead a thoughtful expression came onto his face, and she could tell that he was trying to be careful with what he told her.

"Why?"

His question made her somewhat irritated that he hadn't told her anything.

"The way you said it made me think that it's a possibility, that's all," she shrugged, continuing to walk.

"Let's just say it's from experience, ok?"

She nodded, not saying any more on the subject; she figured Joel wouldn't like it if she prodded too much.

_He'd probably say it's one of my annoying questions._

The day continued to drag on, and her mind kept wandering back to the same subject that was bothering her. She glanced over at Joel, and then at the ground.

_I don't need to ask him. I can figure it out on my own,_ she brought up the virtual map in her head, expanding it a bit to look similar to one of the larger maps she had seen a few years back.

Her confusion grew as she stared at it, drawing imaginary paths between where they were and the rest of the world.

She knew that the map could have been outdated, considering all that had happened in the past twenty years and since the start of the pandemic, but that still didn't answer her question.

_There's all that water though,_ she thought, feeling a bit of a headache.

She groaned in frustration when she couldn't find the answer. Joel glanced back at her, but he didn't say anything.

"Hey Joel?" she started after a while, not finding any way to answer her question and figuring that expert advice would help.

"Yeah?"

"There are other countries in the world, right?" Her question made him pause; a somewhat curious expression was directed towards her.

"Yes, why?"

"Do they still exist?"

He gave her a look that she interpreted as 'Isn't it obvious?" making her bring up what she had been pondering all this time.

"How come they haven't helped us yet?"

The question made Joel stop, and he turned around to stare at her. She could tell this was a question he hadn't been prepared for.

"That's… somewhat complicated," he answered, and she could tell that he was struggling with how to explain it to her.

Ellie just stared at him, waiting for a more direct answer. Joel saw this and sighed.

"Do you know anything about the history of us and the other countries?"

She answered his question with a nod, remembering a book she had read a while back at one of the boarding houses.

"Yeah, things were peaceful for a bit, and then someone would start arguing about something. Everyone retaliated by blowing each other up, and then more peace. It was sort of like a boring, unending cycle."

She heard Joel laugh a bit at her answer.

"Yeah, something similar to that," she could tell that he found the way she interpreted history amusing.

"Anyway, we don't have a very good relationship with the rest of the world, so your answer could be a number of things."

Joel's statement didn't give her much to go off of, making her somewhat disappointed.

"Like?" She prodded, hoping he would continue or at least give her a hint.

Joel shook his head, and she briefly wondered if he was stumped on what to say.

"They could have figured out about the fungal outbreak and have a fear of coming here in case they would get it."

"But why would they want to come here anyway?"

"Most likely to take land and resources. Countries used to fight over it a lot before then pandemic, among other things as well."

"So they essentially want to loot us, like we do with the hunters?"

Her statement made Joel think for a moment, taking in what she had said.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Ellie nodded, still feeling slightly confused.

"You said there were other reasons," she prodded, jumping over a smaller log.

"They could just be waiting for the fungus to die off, or even they could be infected by now, but most likely, they simply don't care."

She felt some sadness at the last part of his sentence, making her frown slightly.

"So what you're saying is that they don't want to help?" she questioned, not able to keep the sadness out of her voice.

Joel seemed to see this and sighed, knowing he had said the wrong thing.

"Like I said, it's only a possibility," his gaze softened a bit when he said this, making her shake her head.

"But it's the most likely one," she stated, knowing it was the truth.

Joel didn't answer her, and Ellie felt for once that she was just starting to uncover a greater depth of cruelness in the world.

* * *

First I would like to say a few things. I do not mean anything bad about other countries by this chapter (I do live in the US), but I just found the subject something that I was interested in and figured it would be a good topic to bring up. So I don't want to offend anyone by this chapter, and I am really sorry if it did seem slightly offensive. Also, next chapter will hold a bit of a time skip, and the start of many others, considering I am running out of time for this and have a lot more to go. I promise that the last chapter will come on June 14th (or possibly the 13th if you want it that badly), but we have a lot more to go before the end of this fanfiction. Please tell me anything you would like to see in this fanfiction, as well as any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	22. Life out Here is Different

**NineJulySkies:** Thanks! I try and update as fast as I can (not only because I have a time limit, but because it's so fun to write). :)

**Simply Don't Care:** I only figured out about Bill being in Lincoln recently, and my problem was that I had already written that part for this fanfiction. I do have an idea to fix that coming up soon though (involving Illinois).

**Legendary Swordsman:** Haha, yeah poor Joel has to deal with so many things :) That was essentially the part I had mentioned that was similar to the one in Chapter 16, but it's definitely not over yet (the awkwardness isn't going to go away anytime soon either).

* * *

Chapter 22: Life out Here is Different

Ellie stared around her wide eyed as she walked, taking in the changing hues of the leaves. She never really got the chance to observe the changing seasons in the quarantine zone, so she wanted to absorb every bit she could.

"It's so different," she muttered as an orange leaf floated past her.

She reached out and grabbed it, thinking of putting it in her backpack as a keepsake; something to remember this time with.

Joel instantly knew what she was thinking however; he shook his head and she dropped the leaf, watching it float to the ground with thousands others like it.

"Have you never seen this before?" he asked, motioning to their surroundings.

It took a moment for her to realize what Joel had asked, and she nodded.

"Nothing like this ever happened back in Boston," she answered, taking in all the vibrant colors of the leaves again, feeling that if she blinked it would all go away.

"Do you even know what fall is?" Joel's question made her frown slightly.

"Of course I do. We still had it back at the quarantine zone, but it wasn't like this," she shook her head, wondering how long Joel had been in Boston. He didn't seem to know a lot about it there, but then again, he hadn't lived in a boarding school.

"What was it like then?"

"The temperature would start dropping, so it usually got colder at night. There was some increase in food, but not much, so that's when most people would scramble to get whatever they could at the time. The weather was bad most of the time too."

Ellie continued listing things that she had grown up with regularly, even thinking back to some of her own experiences.

"But I didn't see anything like the actual changing of the seasons like this," she stated, "winter was easy to identify because of the snow falling. Summer and spring kind of melted into each other, but fall was only a small increase in food. Most of the trees in the quarantine zone were dead, so they didn't change colors either."

Joel nodded, seeming to understand her explanation. She fell silent, thinking back on her years at the quarantine zone.

_Everything's so much more different now,_ she thought, _and it all started when I decided to travel with Riley._

"Now that I think about it, that makes sense," Joel's voice made her thoughts stop, "I guess I never really paid much attention to the seasons though."

"How come?" she questioned, feeling curious to why he would say that.

Of course, she had stopped observing most of the seasons back at the quarantine zone after a while; they had gotten somewhat repetitive after fourteen years of staring at the same thing.

Joel didn't answer her question right away; he was silent for a bit like he was thinking.

"I guess I just didn't feel the need to. It was the same routine day after day, so the years just blended together," she nodded at his explanation; it was similar to her reason as well.

"I remember back at the quarantine zone, there was always someone strict in charge of the boarding school," Ellie started, laughing a bit, "I used to get in trouble a lot."

"What for?" Joel asked, and she could tell he was somewhat amused.

"Lots of stuff," she started, and then continued explaining, "Fighting, theft, running away, more fighting…"

She figured she could have listed more, but she didn't really want to dwell on what she had done wrong.

"Anyways, the one person in charge at one of the boarding schools asked me what I thought was keeping us safe from the outside world," she continued, trying not to laugh, "I knew he was meaning the military, but I couldn't help stating the most obvious thing at the time."

Joel glanced back at her when she stopped, curiosity written on his face.

"And what did you say?"

"A giant concrete wall."

Ellie couldn't contain her laughter anymore after that; the memory was only around a year old, so it was still fresh in her mind. Both her and Joel started to laugh at the same time, and it was somewhat relieving.

_Not many things can take your mind away from a hostile world,_ she thought as she smiled.

"Life out here is different too," she continued when both of them had calmed down.

"In how many ways?" Joel questioned, and she got the feeling that he was starting to like having someone to talk to.

"A ton," she answered, laughing a bit more, "For one thing, I didn't think I would be traveling across the country with someone I barely knew."

Joel chuckled a bit at her statement, both of them finding it true.

"Well, we should hit Illinois soon," he stated, making her somewhat confused about why he would inform her again; that was until she heard what he said next, "And I might have somewhat of a story to tell, but only when we get there."

Ellie realized what he had just said, and she was already dying of anticipation.

"Aww, why can't you tell me now?" she half-whined; this would be one of the first times she would actually here Joel tell something similar to a 'story'.

"Because it will make more sense if I tell it when we get there," Joel explained, smiling a bit at her childish behavior.

"There's nothing else to talk about though," she retorted, hoping he would cave and just tell the story.

Joel shook his head with a bit of a smile.

"Then I guess you might want to walk faster," he replied, making her pout a bit.

Lesson learned: Joel was going to make her wait for the story, and she hoped it was a good one to make up for everything she had to put up with.

* * *

I know this chapter is a bit shorter (and filled with some fluff), but once again I wanted to explore something different about life outside the quarantine zones: the changing of the seasons. I found it interesting that in one of the new demos released, Ellie had said she never walked through the woods, which is what gave me the idea for this chapter. Please tell me any suggestions or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	23. A Bigger Threat

Chapter 23: A Bigger Threat

"We're just crossing the border into Illinois."

Joel's announcement made excitement run through her, and she started to smile. He glanced back at her and sighed, not knowing what was running through her head.

"What's got you so happy?" he questioned, making her smile grow as she jogged to catch up to him.

"Can you tell the story now?" Her excitement was replaced quickly with disappointment when Joel shook his head.

"Why not?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

"It'll make more sense if I tell it when we get to the exact spot," Joel explained, making her feel irritated.

"You never said that originally," she muttered, and he remained silent, ignoring her statement.

Ellie stayed quiet for a bit, staring at the ground as she walked.

"Look, you don't have to wait that much longer," Joel's voice made her look up, seeing he was pointing at something in the distance, "The spot's just over there."

Her gaze was drawn towards another dilapidated town, and she wondered if the military had tried to establish a quarantine zone there as well.

She didn't talk much as they walked towards the town; instead, she was trying to keep her anticipation down. She didn't want to get all excited and then have the story be horrible.

_Let's hope not,_ she thought, risking a glance at Joel.

"Alright, this is the spot," Joel stated when they got to the middle of the town.

Abandoned stores and houses were lined along the sides of the street, and ruined cars were lying around.

_What makes this space so special?_ She wondered, looking at Joel when he started to speak.

"Ellie, I want you to look around," Joel stated, "Tell me what you see."

She thought it was a strange request, but she did as he asked anyways.

Most of the stores specialized in one thing, and there seemed to be no duplicates of the type of store.

_Maybe it was to make sure they didn't run each other out of business,_ she guessed, turning her attention towards the homes next.

Most of the houses looked like they had been lived in; plants that had once been grown in pots indoors were now growing out of cracks in windows, climbing down the sides of the buildings and to the streets below. Some of the doors had been busted open, letting her see ruined furniture and belongings inside.

_It's sad that everyone had to up and leave everything,_ she thought as she stared at the abandoned town.

The cars in the streets were mostly destroyed; broken windshields spewed glass into the interior of the cars and onto the road.

Ellie briefly wondered if any music could be found in the music players in the car, but she knew Joel would say it was a waste of time looking for something like that. They didn't have a car anymore to play music in either way.

Her gaze traveled down the street further, staring at shapes in the distance. She squinted her eyes against the sun, thinking she was seeing something moving.

_No one else is here though;_ she thought as she covered her eyes with her hand,_ I might just be seeing things._

Ellie had to admit that food and water was becoming scarcer, and she blamed her hazy eyesight on the lack of hydration.

_I should check though, just to be sure._

She started to walk down the street a bit, but then turned around and stared at Joel. He was still waiting for an answer.

"This place is abandoned, right?" she questioned, and then continued at his nod, "Am I just seeing things, or is something moving up ahead?"

She pointed to where she thought the object was moving, and Joel followed her gaze. His eyes widened a moment later.

"Ellie, quick!" his voice now came out as an urgent whisper as he pulled her over to hide behind one of the ruined cars.

Her body instantly tensed, and she could feel her heart starting to pound.

"What is it? More Infected?" she whispered, glancing over at him and then out at the moving shapes that were getting closer.

"No, something way worse," Joel muttered, following where she was looking.

Ellie grew curious at what he meant, but then figured that it could be more hunters.

_That wouldn't be good,_ she thought, pulling the pistol out of her backpack.

She knew that she could always use her switchblade if things got out of hand, but she had to admit that a pistol did a far better job at taking something hostile down.

She saw Joel pull out his revolver, leaning as close against the car as he could. She did the same, not wanting to be spotted.

Voices floated towards them a moment later.

"I don't see why we have to look out here," a man's deep voice stated, sounding somewhat bored.

"We're looking for her, remember?" another voice stated harshly, somewhat taunting the first one. She saw Joel glance at her for a moment, his eyes somewhat narrowed.

"We don't even know what to look for though," the first voice retorted, and Ellie glanced out quickly from behind the car, gasping at what she saw.

_They look like the guards in Boston,_ her heart quickened again; this time in fear.

"A girl in her teens," a third voice joined the conversation, "Shouldn't be too hard. You don't see that often."

A laugh rippled through the group, and Ellie bit her lip, feeling somewhat nervous.

Joel signaled for her to wait behind the car, and she watched as he crept towards another car on the other side of the road. She wondered how the guards didn't see him, but she figured that either he was hiding well enough or the group was too enthralled in their conversation to notice.

Her gaze followed Joel as he continued to make his way to the other side. He disappeared from her view, and worry made her lean a bit further to be able to see him.

A gunshot near her head made her jolt back behind the car, and shouting was heard from the group.

She peeked out quickly to see that Joel was shooting at the group with his revolver, but a bullet from one of the guards that had managed to spot her caused the windows of the car to shatter more, scattering glass around her.

Ellie scrambled to the nearest house with an open door, dodging bullets from the one guard.

A brief glance behind her showed that Joel had taken down the two other guards and was coming for the one chasing her. She shut the front door as tight as she could, glancing around the room frantically for something to shove in front of it.

She was too late, and the door was swung open behind her, knocking her to the floor as it impacted with her side. Her vision darkened for a few moments from the pain; she glanced up a moment later to see the guard pointing his gun at her.

She pointed the pistol at him, and it seemed they were at a stalemate.

A moment later, she heard a gunshot and then the man fell to the ground. She scrambled backwards to avoid being crushed.

Her gaze fell on Joel, who was now going through the man's gun for any ammo. When he noticed her staring, he held up the gun for her to see.

"He was out of ammo, so you would have been ok," he stated, and she frowned a bit.

"It would have been nice to know that when he was pointing it at me," she mumbled as he helped her up. She saw a smile appear on his face for a brief moment, and then he became serious again.

"We should get out of here though," Joel reminded her, and they both started for the exit.

Ellie heard a gunshot close behind them and started, turning around to see another group of guards with smug looks on their faces.

_The others must have been a decoy,_ she realized, glancing at Joel and knowing he had realized the same thing.

"Don't move," one of the men, Ellie guessed he was the leader, ordered with guns pointed at them.

Joel stood in front of her a bit, and she wondered briefly how many bullets she had in the pistol. She didn't have the best aim, but she had been getting better.

The group was slightly larger, this time with five people instead of three. Ellie thought one of the men looked familiar, but shook her head and realized it must be from slight dehydration.

Both of them stood still as the group surrounded them, blocking off the exit.

Things happened quickly after that. Joel was knocked to the ground and disarmed, and someone took her pistol away. She felt a hand in her pocket and backed away, realizing someone had taken her switchblade as well. She lunged at the person, and a moment later she had her switchblade back, and the man had one less finger.

The only weapons they had left were their rifles, which wouldn't do much good in a close ranged situation like this, and her switchblade.

Ellie eyed her pistol in one of the man's hands, but she knew she would only get shot if she tried to get it back.

Something hit her in the head hard, and she fell to the ground, feeling like her head was exploding. Rough hands jerked her up a moment later and held her in place so she couldn't move.

Through her fogginess, she saw Joel struggling with one of the men as best as he could, but he was also defeated in a matter of a minute.

The next half hour found them tied to chairs while the group of men went through their backpacks.

Their rifles had been confiscated, but she still had her switchblade since Joel had convinced the men that she would "cut them to pieces" if they tried to take it away. One of the men was already proof enough without his finger.

"I'm starting to question if you really are the military," Ellie stated, despite a warning glance from Joel.

One of the men turned around, staring at her.

"Why's that?" the man asked mockingly, and she was already annoyed.

"You're looting our stuff," she answered, "That's usually what hunters do."

A ripple of laughter went throughout the group, and she didn't like the sound of it. She started instantly frowning.

"We're not hunters," another man answered, "We're just looking for anything useful."

"Or illegal," someone else added, and Ellie instantly paled.

She glanced over at Joel, remembering the vaccines. Her mind briefly questioned if he had anything else in his backpack that was considered illegal.

Despite their predicament, Joel looked relatively calm, making her think that he might have been in this type of situation before.

"There's just junk in here," one of the guards stated as he rummaged through her backpack. She started to glare at him, and was about to say something, but Joel gave her a look.

"Nothing over here," they were done checking Joel's backpack, making Ellie slightly confused that they hadn't seen the vaccines.

_Maybe they're blind,_ she thought, but then froze when she recognized what the guard had pulled out of her backpack: the unopened letter.

"Ellie," the guard read, and then showed it to his friends, "Looks like we've found the right girl then."

Panic started to surface in her, and she started to struggle in the chair. It tipped over, sending her still tied up towards the ground.

The commotion made the guards glance at her, and then they started to laugh, only serving to fuel her now-rising anger.

She was about to spout off to them, but stopped when one of the men fell to the ground, either dead or unconscious.

The guards looked over at them with suspicion, and Ellie wondered if they were dumber than they had first seemed.

_There's no way with the position we're in that we could do something like that,_ her gaze travelled over to Joel, registering the confusion in his face.

The room was silent, until another man fell, making three left. The strange thing was that no one else seemed to be here, and it would seem obvious if a gun was fired.

_What's killing them?_ She wondered, cringing a bit when the man who held her letter fell to the ground.

"Only two left," Joel stated, but it was clear to her that he had no idea what was going on either.

The two guards seemed to panic at his words, standing up quickly and pointing their guns around the room. Another man fell, and Ellie was starting to think that the scene was both amusing and slightly creepy.

The last man fell, and she glanced over to see Joel suddenly freed from his chair, the cut ropes lying on the ground.

"How'd you get out?" she questioned, not remembering Joel having a knife.

"Something cut the ropes from behind," he answered, shrugging a bit, "No idea what though."

She saw him glance around for something to cut her ropes with.

"Where's your switchblade?" she struggled a bit at his question.

"Pants pocket," she answered, staying still long enough for him to grab it from her pocket and cut her free.

She stood up as soon as she was free and walked over towards her backpack, rubbing her wrists a bit.

"Those guys tie tight knots," she commented, picking up the letter and stuffing it back in her backpack. She walked over towards Joel and leaned down, not seeing the vaccines in his backpack.

"Where are they?" she asked, giving him a confused look.

Joel apparently knew what she meant; his hand reached for the edge of the lining in the backpack and pulled, revealing a secret pocket. Inside were the vaccines.

"I decided to hide them after you went searching through my stuff. Glad I did now," he explained, making a smile come onto her face as he replaced the lining.

"Anything else illegal in there that I should know about?" she asked with a smile, earning a shake of the head for an answer.

Joel stood up and she followed him towards one of the guards, seeing that he was dead. She leaned down, not seeing any bullet wounds.

"What killed them?" she gave Joel a side-ways glance, shivering a bit.

_It almost feels like someone else is here,_ she bit her lip at the thought, not wanting it to be true.

Joel pulled back the guard's shirt collar, revealing a thin line of blood at the base of his neck. Joel reached into the wound and pulled out a small, thin needle.

"This," he stated as he showed it to her, "it was fired at a rate where it was silent enough not to be noticed, but the impact was enough to kill them instantly."

His explanation made her want to shiver again; that was, until she felt a sharp pain spread through her right shoulder, making her scream in pain for a moment as her hand went to hold it.

She pressed her head against the ground, breathing heavily. She could feel Joel's shock as he pushed her hand away, feeling around her shoulder.

A moment later, she felt him pull something from her shoulder, slight pain still radiating throughout it.

Her gaze traveled side-ways to see that he was holding another one of those needles.

"You alright Ellie?" Joel's question made her bitterly laugh.

"Gosh, those things hurt like hell," she muttered as Joel helped her up. He was glancing around warily.

"Whoever killed those guards is still here," he whispered as they started to walk towards the exit again.

She shivered again, this time feeling cold despite the heat outside.

For a moment, she thought she heard someone say 'idiot', and she glanced behind her, seeing no one.

She shook her head, following Joel as she switched her backpack's weight to her left shoulder, considering that her right one still hurt.

They didn't talk as they quickly exited the town, following the dirt path until they were a safe distance away from it.

Joel sat down and took off his backpack, prompting her to do the same. She gladly did, leaning against her backpack for support.

She watched Joel rummage through his backpack, producing a makeshift first aid kit from it a moment later.

_He has everything in there;_ she smiled slightly at the thought, wanting to laugh if it were true.

Joel walked over towards her, sitting down behind her. She felt somewhat confused at his actions.

"What?" she asked, sitting up a bit. Joel sighed, clearly exhausted.

"Need to make sure it doesn't get infected," he motioned towards her shoulder, and she nodded, sitting with her back towards him.

She felt him pull down the back of her shirt a bit, which made her feel somewhat uncomfortable since the needle had struck her in her shoulder blade, but she figured it was better this way instead of the wound becoming infected.

When Joel was done, he stood up and sat down a few feet away from her, and it was just then that she realized the bottom part of his sleeve was covered in blood.

"You're hurt," she remarked, feeling worry spread through her. His wound looked a lot worse.

"That group was a bit rough," he didn't look at her as he started to clean the wound. He put the first aid kit back into his backpack when he was done, not being able to wash his sleeve off.

She gave him a questioning look, which prompted him to respond.

"I can wash it off when we get to a steadier water supply," he explained, answering her unspoken question.

Ellie stood up and started to follow him again, realizing they were walking more in the open now.

_Nowhere for us or anything else to hide,_ she realized, feeling a bit more on guard.

They stopped for the night long after it got dark. Ellie stared up at the sky, not feeling tired. Her gaze wandered over to where Joel was laying, realizing he wasn't asleep either by his breathing pattern.

"Could you tell me the story now?" she asked, and heard a chuckle from him.

"You should be asleep," he stated instead, making her breath out a sigh of frustration.

"I know, but you never told me it," she retorted, hearing a sigh from him. She saw him move slightly in the dark.

"If I tell you the story, will you go to sleep?" he questioned after a while.

"There's a better chance of it," she shrugged, knowing it was true. Stories seemed to always put her mind more at rest.

Joel nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Bill used to live in that town we were in," he started, somewhat surprising her.

"Wait, is this a story about Fatty's personal life?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Sort of, so yes and no," he answered, and then continued with the story, "He told me that's where he used to live before he came to live in Ohio."

"Where you lived?" she questioned, and he nodded.

"I used to see him around town sometimes. I forget what he did for a job before the pandemic, something with mechanics."

"That's makes sense. He did make that truck."

"I met up with Bill twice before I got to Boston; one time near the border of Ohio, and the other in Pennsylvania. We sort of joined as a temporary group the second time meeting each other."

"What stopped you from becoming a group the first time?" The question had popped into her mind, making her curious. Joel sighed at what she asked.

"Someone else's opinion. Anyways, somewhere near New York, we met up with Tess. She also joined our group after lots of hesitation."

"What made her hesitate?"

"Bill used to stare at her sometimes." The statement made her laugh when she envisioned it.

"Did she kick Fatty's butt?" This earned an amused chuckle from Joel.

"Plenty of times."

Ellie couldn't stop herself from laughing; she had to stop soon or else her side was going to hurt, either that or someone might find them.

"Tess and I went on towards Boston, and Bill came with us. After a while, he just decided that our occupation wasn't working out for him. He told us he was headed back towards Pittsburgh, but that was a long time ago."

Joel became silent, and Ellie figured he was trapped in his memories. She couldn't blame him; that happened to her sometimes too.

"Is that the end?" she asked after a few minutes of silence. Joel seemed somewhat startled at her voice, but he still answered her.

"To a degree, that's the short version," his answer made her glance over at him, a question at the top of her mind. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should ask it or not.

"Why tell me this?" she asked, staring at him, "It's kind of personal for you, and I know you usually don't like talking about that."

Joel stayed silent for a moment, and he didn't answer until he met her gaze.

"I trust you a lot more than most people," his answer was simple, but she felt her gaze trail to the stars again.

"Thanks," she said after a while, "That actually means a lot more than you know."

She couldn't tell if Joel smiled or if it was her imagination.

"Well, I think we should get some sleep now," Joel stated, and she nodded, yawning slightly.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep to Joel's steady breathing a few feet away.

* * *

Sorry this chapter took a bit longer to write (although it is a bit longer in length than the last few as well). The military are now searching for Ellie, which makes Joel's job a bit harder. What do you think will happen next? And how did you like this chapter? Please tell me any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	24. What it takes to Survive

Chapter 24: What it takes to Survive

Ever since Joel's first 'story', he had been opening up to her more. Ellie started to wonder what would happen when they did get to the Fireflies.

_Would he really just leave me with strangers?_

The question bugged her, and she had to stop herself from asking it on numerous occasions.

Other questions bothered her as well such as:

_What would happen if the military followed us to the Fireflies? What if I don't want to stay with the Fireflies?_ And so on.

Above all, Ellie felt as if something about the Fireflies was lodged in her head, but she wasn't able to remember. She felt as if something was wrong, and that something pertaining to the Fireflies was a bad thing.

_That has to be wrong though; the Fireflies are the good guys, right?_

She was finding it harder to believe that the more they continued their journey. Something seemed familiar with some of the places they visited, and she thought that she would remember, but unlike at the safe house, she didn't have any more flashbacks.

Another predicament had been bothering her, but this one was more on a personal level.

Ellie knew the letter was safely tucked away in her backpack, like it should be, but lately she found herself wondering about its origins.

The letter had just shown up on her doorstep shortly after she had taken up residence in the abandoned house, hiding from anyone that could have recognized her as a run away from the boarding schools.

She hadn't wanted to open it, and instead had just stuffed it somewhere in the house, getting changing feelings when she thought about it.

_I'm surprised I even brought it with me,_ she sighed, gaining Joel's attention.

He didn't need to say anything; they were starting to know each other well enough by now to understand when something was wrong or what the other meant by a look.

"Just thinking about something," she muttered, and she could already tell that the answer didn't satisfy him.

She waved his questioning expression off, pulling her jacket tighter around her when another cold blast of fall wind came rushing towards her.

"I found another purpose for concrete walls," she announced, making Joel glance back at her with a confused expression on his face.

"What's that?"

"A windbreaker."

Joel sighed at her answer, nodding a bit, and she could tell that he saw the logic in her statement.

The temperature had been dropping more with each day that passed, along with the weather worsening.

_ At least it's not raining right now,_ she thought, shivering slightly at the idea of being caught in a rainstorm with the unpleasant coldness.

Her mind wandered, choosing a strange subject to amuse herself with: How did it seem so easy for Joel to kill?

The closest she thought she had come to killing another living person was when she cut the one guard's finger off back in Fatty's hometown, or maybe it was before that? Back at the hotel in Pittsburgh?

She shook her head, finding she couldn't remember much about that night; at least not much past when Joel had fallen down the elevator. Other than that, the rest of the night seemed foggy.

If she thought hard enough on the subject, she could slightly remember hearing a gunshot, but she hadn't been able to tell if it had been Joel's gun or her's.

There was also the troubling fact that at the hotel was when her memory had actually started to go, heading backwards to before she had met Joel and when she had been traveling with Riley.

She couldn't exactly remember their destination, and it had bothered her on more than one sleepless night.

_Maybe what Joel had suggested was right, about having some form of short-term memory loss,_ she had thought about telling Joel what she could remember of her journey with Riley, but she had hesitated too long.

"How can you kill so easily?" she asked, wondering if the question would offend him.

Joel gave her a side-ways glance, and she didn't blame him if he didn't want to answer; although 'annoying' questions had started to disappear from his standards, there were still some things he didn't explain to her.

"Guess after all these years, it just comes naturally. It's either you or the other person," he explained, still making her somewhat confused.

"But wouldn't you still _feel_ something afterwards?" her question made him stop, taking a deep breath as he stared at her.

He started to say something, but then stopped, almost like he was having a hard time trying to explain it.

"On this journey," he started while shaking his head, "You either hang onto your morals and die, or do whatever it takes to survive."

He turned around, continuing to walk without another word. His statement shocked her with almost how true it was.

"So, is that your motto or something?" she asked as she jogged to catch up to him, smiling a bit.

Joel laughed slightly, smiling as well.

"Let's just say it's kept me alive," he stated, making her smile go away a bit.

Her gaze traveled back to her backpack, where the letter was hidden.

_I'll tell him when the time is right,_ she thought, following after him long after the sky had darkened.

* * *

Ok, I know this was an extremely short chapter compared to all the other ones, but it was more filler. I got the idea when watching the "What it Takes to Survive" trailer (hence the name). Is it just me, or does that trailer seem like it could be used if they ever made the game into a movie (for those of you who have watched it). I personally think that would be awesome. :) Either way, please tell me what you thought and any ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	25. Trust is More than an Emotion

Chapter 25: Trust is More than an Emotion

Ever since their conversation about surviving a few days ago, Ellie had seemed to clam up. He didn't know if it was because of the cold or what, but it was starting to somewhat bother him.

Joel had to admit that Ellie was starting to become more than just a travelling companion to him, almost like family when he thought about it sometimes.

She kept glancing at him several times a day, and with nothing hostile interrupting their journey for the past few days, there was only talking that could pass the time; problem was that neither of them seemed to want to talk much.

So that only left Joel with planning out more of their trip. He was starting to realize a flaw in his original plan: heading through Nebraska and then towards California.

With the time of year that they were going to be getting to Nebraska in, the weather would most likely be winter, changing drastically from what both of them were prepared for.

He originally thought of steering clear of Nebraska and changing their course to Oklahoma, where the weather wouldn't be quite as hostile, but then he remembered hearing rumors of the state being overrun by hunters.

_So it's either choose between hostile nature or hostile men,_ Joel thought with a sigh,_ both can kill just as easily._

He decided to stick with their original plan; there was always a possibility that they would avoid the nasty winter storms after all.

_But that's the problem with it drastically changing…_

Joel remembered before the outbreak that he had visited Nebraska once; he couldn't remember what it was for, but the weather hadn't been too friendly.

His gaze traveled to Ellie and he observed that she was staring at the ground as she walked. He sometimes found himself wondering what went through her mind; after all, they both had completely different experiences.

He sighed, figuring he should at least say something to pass the time.

"Would you rather go through hostile weather, or hostile people?" he asked, his question completely surprising her. She let out a small laugh, smiling a bit.

"What kind of question is that?" she asked, and then continued as she stared up at the sky, "I don't know. You're the one with more experience."

Ellie didn't say anything for the rest of the day after that, making him realize his attempt had failed horribly.

He stopped their traveling a bit early for the day as they came to a ruined hut; the sky had just started to darken.

Joel sat his backpack down, leaning it against a crumbled wall. Ellie sat down a few feet away without saying anything.

He sighed, seeing the same unreadable expression on her face.

"What's bothering you so much?" he asked as he sat down.

Her face was surprised for a moment, and he could tell she hadn't been expecting him to talk.

"Nothing much, just thinking," her gaze traveled to the ground again.

He sighed, and then laughed a bit.

"Well, that's been your excuse every time I've asked, so you need to find a new one," he stated, watching as she frowned slightly.

"Just something more personal," she answered as she looked up at the sky.

Dread somewhat filled him at the first thing that popped into his mind.

"You don't mean-" he started, but Ellie caught on, her eyes widening.

"No!" she retaliated quickly, then calming down a bit, "Something else that's been on my mind for a while."

"I can tell," he said, lying on his back and staring up at the sky. Ellie did the same, taking her backpack off and laying it next to her.

She sighed and he glanced over at her.

"You're still avoiding answering my question," he saw her glance over at him, and then sit up, reaching for her backpack.

He sat up as well, watching as she pulled something rectangular and dirty from her backpack.

She handed it to him, and he saw it was a letter. Strange thing was that the letter was unopened.

He frowned slightly, seeing only that 'Ellie' was written on the front.

"Why haven't you opened it?" he questioned, motioning towards the letter.

Ellie sighed, lying back down with a frown. She didn't answer for a moment, and he could tell that she was thinking.

"I don't know. Some part is out of fear, I guess," her answer made him somewhat confused.

Joel lied back down, looking up at the sky.

"What are you scared about?" he asked, hearing her take a deep breath.

"The unknown?" she answered uncertainly, "I guess I'm just afraid to know what's inside."

Joel listened intently as she continued.

"That letter just appeared on my doorstep one day, back in Boston. I have no idea who sent it. I guess that some part of me is afraid to find out."

He let out a deep breath, contemplating what she had told him. Something was stirring in his memory as he looked over at her.

"You have some idea?" he questioned, and she nodded.

"Maybe it's just a random person who sent it. Maybe I got someone else's letter, I don't know," Ellie stopped for a moment, and Joel saw her close her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, "Sometimes I think it might be my parents."

Her gaze drifted towards the sky again, and Joel was really hoping she wouldn't cry.

"I guess I never really know where my opinion lies with that subject. I've never really had parents; none of the other kids at the boarding school did anyways, so I guess that's why we were there. I just don't know what to think."

They sat in silence for a few moments; he didn't really know how to comfort her. Of course, he had parents at one time, but he couldn't really remember much about them considering he hadn't seen them since before the pandemic.

"Anyone else?" he asked, motioning towards the letter again. She took another deep breath, nodding.

"Yeah. Sometimes I think it might be Riley."

"You keep mentioning that name."

He glanced over at her, and she caught his gaze for a moment before it flitted to the sky again.

"She was another kid at one of the boarding schools."

Joel shook his head, smiling a bit.

"There's something else," a confused look appeared on her face at his statement, and he continued, "You remember her name for a reason. It's not like you could tell me the names of every other kid there."

Ellie laughed a bit, and he felt somewhat relieved.

"You're right; I couldn't tell you the names of every other kid, but…" her voice trailed off and she shook her head, "I don't think I'm ready to talk about her yet. Sorry."

Joel nodded, his gaze drifting.

"Don't worry. I understand what you mean," he sighed, shaking his head, "some memories of people are more complicated."

Ellie stayed quiet, not commenting on his statement. It was then that Joel realized she hadn't asked for the letter back.

"Here," he tried to give it back to her, but she shook her head.

"Keep it," she stated, making him sit up a bit.

"Trying to lighten your load?" His question made her laugh a bit.

"No, but I'd feel more comfortable if you have it," she explained, not making him understand any more.

"How come?" he asked, watching her sit up as well. Ellie thought for a moment, sitting in silence.

"I don't think I'm ready for whatever's in that letter," she stated, and then pointed to him, "but I'd feel better if you read it first."

Joel felt surprise run through him as he stared down at the letter.

"I'm thinking it might be more of a personal letter," he wanted to make sure she was thinking correctly.

"Yeah, but I trust you more than most people," she answered, repeating what he had said to her a few days ago.

He briefly smiled, reaching for his backpack. Ellie saw this and looked confused.

"Aren't you going to read it?" she asked, tilting her head to the side a bit as she stared at him. Joel shook his head.

"Not now. Maybe when the time is right," he answered, opening his backpack as she lied back down.

"Alright then," she fell silent after that.

Joel slipped his fingers between the lining of his backpack pocket, opening the part where the vaccines were hidden. He glanced down at the letter, placing it with the vaccines and replacing the lining.

Joel turned around, opening his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw that Ellie was already fast asleep.

The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile; she never really did tell him when she was exhausted.

_Because she doesn't need babysitting,_ he reminded himself, trying not to laugh for fear of waking her up.

He glanced at his backpack as he positioned himself on the ground, and then stared up at the stars, staying up long into the night.

* * *

So, this chapter was in Joel's POV (personally, I did not originally plan to write his POV this often, but I'm starting to like it a bit). The past two chapters have mentioned the letter that Ellie grabbed in Chapter 1, but we won't see the contents for a few more chapters. Sorry, but that contains some spoilers (and I don't want to spoil anything too early in the story). Only a few more weeks until the game comes out, and hopefully this with be done by then (so that all of you readers can enjoy playing the game without getting a notice that I updated every five minutes :) ). Also, I was wondering what your opinion would be on something; do you want the epilogue of this fanfiction on June 13th or 14th (this also depends on how fast I get the chapters done, but I would like to know your opinion). Either way, please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	26. No Ill Will

**Legendary Swordsman:** I was just wondering for the epilogue date if I could get this done quick enough then what date they would prefer (considering most people might be playing on the 14th). Also, yeah some of the scenes are going to be similar (plus more awkwardness in this chapter :) ). And I'm sorry about you missing the preorder; I had something like that happen to me too. I kind of can into the game late for this (just discovered it late March early April) and wanted to get the Survival Edition (well, really I would have liked to get the Ellie edition, but I live in the US). Let's just say that the place I pre-ordered from ran out of preorders (didn't make much sense, but I ordered the normal version instead).

**Exleader75:** I'm definitely going to try and finish it before or on the 14th, so I'm working to get this done a little bit each day. The part of who actually did that to the men is a mystery; you'll figure that out in a few chapters (I think, depends on where the chapters start and cut off) :)

* * *

Chapter 26: No Ill Will

Before traveling with Joel across what was left of the United States, Ellie would have told anyone that her jacket could survive anything.

Now though, she felt she was terribly wrong.

"My jacket is not made for winter," she mumbled, trekking through more snow after Joel.

She shivered when a frosty wind kicked up again, making her hug her arms close to her.

Snow had been a constant trend for the past three months since they had entered Nebraska, and Ellie was starting to wish they would have dealt with the 'hostile people' instead.

She wasn't even sure if they were going in circles, or even if Joel knew where in the world they were.

Three months seemed like an awfully long time for one state, considering the amount of time they got through the others in.

Everything looked the same to her; just snow, snow, more snow, and the occasional dead thing they came across.

The only good thing that really came out of being in a place like this was that their water supply was constant; they could either break the ice off a river (although that made the water freezing) or they could melt the snow into water (once again, cold water and the possibility of microorganisms).

Food came in the source of hunting the starved animals in the area, and with as much as they had hunted in the past three months, she was sure that her aim was getting better. That didn't mean that they could find something every day, but it was better than not knowing what you were going to eat in the other states.

Joel still seemed very hesitant to use fire, his answer being "Fire can attract unwanted attention, especially in an open area like this" every single time she asked, and even though his statement was true, it did not help her frozen limbs one bit.

The other thing about not using a fire was that she got introduced to a new type of food called "raw".

Ellie laughed a bit as she remembered the first time Joel had "introduced" her to the new type of food.

_A week into Nebraska was not fun; the weather stunk, and there wasn't much to eat._

_ They had finally been able to find something in the form of a small winter hare, which wouldn't provide much food, but at least it was a start._

_ Ellie sat down across from Joel, somewhat glad they were stopping for the day._

_ The wetness of the snow that she had put up with for the day was starting to make her feet hurt; her shoes weren't in the best condition, and water was starting to leak through to her feet, making them somewhat numb._

_ She watched as Joel untied the small hare from his backpack, having tied it to the strap of his backpack when they caught it earlier so they could eat later._

_ "Can I borrow the switchblade?" he asked, motioning towards her pocket. She frowned slightly, not understanding what he needed it for._

_ "What for?" she asked, her hand hovering over her pocket. She trusted Joel, but her switchblade was important; she didn't want it getting confiscated or anything._

_ "I need to cut the skin off," he answered, and she handed him the switchblade, occupying her attention elsewhere while Joel took care of skinning the hare._

That makes sense; skin it so we don't have to eat the hair,_ she thought, shivering a bit at how disgusting it would have felt._

_ She would have had to eat it if they were forced to, but it wasn't a pleasant thought._

_ Joel handed the switchblade back to her, and she cleaned it off in the snow, placing it in her pocket a moment later._

_ She started to clear away a pocket in the snow, trying to make it big enough for a fire._

_ "You don't need to do that." Joel saw what she was doing._

_ She glanced over at him, stopping her efforts. She glanced around for wood a moment later, and saw that nothing was on the ground. There were some branches in the trees, but they were too far up for her to cut off._

_ "How are we going to get the wood?" She stared up at the tree, wondering it Joel would be able to give her a boost up to the higher branches. They did seem thin enough for her switchblade to cut down; she just had to get up there somehow._

_ "We don't need it," Joel stated as he followed her gaze._

_ Ellie turned around, staring at him with a confused look on her face._

_ "How are we going to build the fire then?"_

_ Her question hung in the air for a moment before he finally answered._

_ "We don't need a fire."_

_ His statement made her eyes widen; confusion seeped into her more than the water that was leaking into her shoes._

_ "What do you mean?" she asked, motioning towards the hare, "How are we going to cook that without one?"_

_ Joel stared at her for a moment, almost as if he couldn't believe what she was asking. He shook his head as she came to sit down beside him._

_ "We're not going to cook it; we can eat it like it is," Ellie felt some bile in her throat at his answer._

_ "We're eating it raw?" she asked, staring at the piece of meat as Joel nodded._

_ She heard him sigh when she adverted her gaze to the snow, feeling somewhat sick._

_ "It's not as bad as you think," Joel stated, handing her a piece of the meat._

_ She regrettably took it, sitting down to eat._

At least meat back at the boarding school was burned,_ she thought, feeling disgusted by the end of the meal._

Joel glanced back at her laugh, a questioning look on his face. She shook her head, trying to be able to tell him without laughing.

"Just thinking about something," she answered, and he shook his head, indicating he didn't want an explanation.

It was getting pretty late in the day, and one thing she had learned about nights in Nebraska was that they were often colder than in the day; at least with all the snow and wind.

They stopped when they came to a small group of trees, and Joel explained that they would make for better shelter. She had agreed, not wanting to be stuck in the open like the night before.

Ellie leaned her backpack against a tree, wondering what to do. The wind was already picking up, making the cold temperature drop even more.

She glanced at Joel and wondered how in the world he wasn't freezing.

_Maybe he is and just isn't telling me,_ her thought made her frown; worry creeping into her mind.

"Aren't you cold?" she questioned as she sat down.

"I'm fine," his response made her sigh.

_That seems to be the general response,_ she glanced over at him,_ and what bothers me the most is that I can't tell if he means it or not._

Joel looked up at the sky, a frown coming onto his face.

"Another storm's coming," he announced, making her frown as well. Storms were never fun, but they got worse each day they were in Nebraska. It seemed that they would never let up.

Ellie shivered, laying down on the ground and using her backpack as a pillow. She closed her eyes, trying to get to sleep and already knowing that Joel would stay up for a bit longer.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. The cold kept seeping into her, making it almost impossible with her shivering.

A tap on her shoulder made her open her eyes. Joel was sitting in front of her, apparently being the one who had tapped her.

_Well, of course, who else would have?_ She thought as she sat up, feeling slightly confused.

"Need something?" she asked, not quite getting why Joel had tapped her.

He sat in front of her for a moment, a frown on his face as he tried to piece together what he was going to say.

"You're cold," he stated, and she sighed, knowing he was finding a harder time than usual for what to say.

"Yeah, well it seems like we both are," she answered, closing her eyes for a moment. The sky had darkened considerably, and she started to wonder if she had been half-asleep.

"I have a solution," Joel said after a moment, surprising her a bit.

"You do?" she questioned, feeling somewhat happy, but then continued when she caught on to what he was saying, "No."

Joel gave her a confused look, and she felt her face slight heat up in embarrassment.

"You don't realize that what you're suggesting is extremely awkward?" she questioned, staring at him for a moment.

Joel sighed, understanding what she meant. She could tell there was more he wanted to say, but that he didn't know how to say it.

On the other hand, Ellie didn't know how to explain to him about having nothing but negative contact with people for most of her life, so that was usually why she tried to stay away from people.

_We usually just end up fighting,_ she thought as a few instances from back at the boarding house came to her mind.

"Ellie, I'm not going to _do_ anything," he stated, making her look away from him, "You realize if that would have been the case, then that would have happened months ago."

She nodded, still not looking at him. Her mind came up with a realization, shocking her a bit.

"What are you so afraid of?" she asked, rendering him speechless for a moment.

He took a deep breath, coloring the air with mist for a moment.

"I don't want to wake up and find out that you died in the middle of the night," Joel's statement made her look at him again, seeing only concern.

_He's only worried, nothing else. I can trust him._

She sighed, nodding slightly. She closed her eyes, turning away from him as she lied back down on the ground.

She stiffened a bit when she felt his presence as warmth, but relaxed after a few moments. She just had to keep telling herself that everything was fine, despite the instinct to inch away from him.

A few minutes passed, and she could already tell that Joel was asleep; that was rare, considering he was the one staying up longer than her at night.

_Maybe that's because I have more to think about tonight,_ she thought, trying not to wake him.

She realized that the situation might be just as awkward for Joel, but his concern for her safety, as well as the fact that they seemed to be the only two people not trying to kill each other out here, had made him be able to accept the situation.

The thought brought her some comfort, and she relaxed a bit, taking into consideration the same things he had.

Of course his explanation made sense; she wouldn't want to wake up and see him dead either.

A smile appeared on her face for a moment before she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

I had the idea for this chapter as one of the first when I started this fanfiction. Sorry for this being a day late; I felt really sick yesterday and could barely make it through school. Thankfully most of that sickness is past for today, so I was able to write. Either way, I won't be going into much detail of what they do in Nebraska, considering majority of it is walking and hunting, so next chapter is another time skip to the next state (can you guess where they are going next? Take into consideration what Joel has been planning the past few chapters). Either way, please tell me what you thought, as well as any ideas, in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	27. The Wrong Direction

**LittleSlytherin394:** Haha, yeah I feel the same way (writing this fanfiction is one of the ways to tide me over until the game comes out). I'm glad you enjoy this so much! Here's the next chapter!

**Legendary Swordsman:** Yep, I would definitely call that "snuggle time" :) (I just don't think Ellie would admit it to herself the first time), as well as bonding time. Haha and that would be interesting to see how she would react, considering there was that scene in Chapter 12 that could be considered "partial nudity". Also, thanks I'm feeling better now. And I feel sorry to hear that you missed it (I'm a big Last of Us fan since discovering it, but I think it would be worse since you've been waiting longer. Sorry!) (Although there is the possibility of waiting for the prices to drop or for the retailer to order more, or is it a special edition kind of deal?)

* * *

Chapter 27: The Wrong Direction

Joel laughed as he watched Ellie run ahead of them a bit, taking in the warmer temperature.

"Goodbye Nebraska!" she shouted as she ran ahead, making a smile appear on his face, "I for once love spring!"

_She could have just told anything hostile in the area that we're here,_ he thought with a shake of the head, still finding the scene slightly amusing.

He wasn't even sure if the season was right, considering that in some states the weather was warmer than most in the winter, but he decided to let her have her excitement.

They were walking along an old road, now abandoned sine the fungal infection.

"Ellie, wait up!" he shouted to her, not wanting her to get too far ahead.

_She could get herself lost,_ he thought, watching as she glanced back at him, turning around and waiting for him to catch up.

"You need to walk faster," she exclaimed jokingly, making him shake his head.

She must have not wanted to say that out loud; her eyes widened in surprise a moment later as an apologetic smile came onto her face.

"Sorry, probably shouldn't have said that," she muttered, glancing down at her shoes.

"It's fine," he answered, becoming puzzled as Ellie continued to stare at her shoes.

It almost looked like she was studying them…

"My shoes are dry," she declared, another smile on her face.

"I can see that," he stated, noticing the same thing about his shoes.

_At least we won't have to worry about getting frostbite anymore;_ relief came at his thought, considering the reality of the fear had been true with the condition of their shoes, among other factors as well.

Ellie continued to walk, looking about her with her eyes shining.

"Spring wasn't this pretty back in the quarantine zone," she remarked, and the images came back to his mind; he instantly agreed with her since most of the grass and trees were dead inside the quarantine zone.

"Where do you think we are now?"

Her question tugged him out of his memories, making him try and guess where they were headed.

"We should be traveling somewhere along the border of Colorado and Wyoming," he answered, and she nodded, a thoughtful expression coming onto her face.

"So that makes how many states until we reach California?"

An amused expression appeared on his face; he had no idea where some of Ellie's stranger questions came from.

"Depends on how many we go through," he answered, and she pouted a bit, clearly wanting a more direct answer.

Joel watched as she counted in her head, frowning slightly as she lost track and had to restart.

"The average amount would be four," she declared after a few minutes, making him want to laugh.

The time gap between the answer and the question had made him somewhat forget that she had asked in the first place.

They fell into comfortable silence, with Ellie walking behind him.

Joel was busy planning out the rest of his trip, and he kept getting interrupted by noises behind him.

He would glance behind him, and the noises would stop, but they would resume shortly after he turned around again.

Joel couldn't tell what was making the noises; they sounded soft and almost like something was trying to breath, but was having a hard time doing so.

He didn't realize who was making the noises, until he heard them louder behind him, making him turn around with a confused expression directed towards the source of the noise: Ellie.

"What are you doing?"

His question made her pause in the noises, and her answer made him want to laugh.

"Whistling," she stated, and then turned red with embarrassment at his amused expression, "Well, trying to whistle."

"That's not-" He wanted to finish with 'whistling', but realized she would get mad at him, so instead he changed his statement, "Just had to make sure you weren't chocking or anything."

He turned around, and then realized what he had just said was probably worse than what he was going to. His guess was confirmed when he heard an annoyed sigh behind him.

"Hey! I'm trying!" Ellie retorted, and he glanced at her to see her glare at him for a moment before going back to observing their surroundings.

He shook his head, wondering how she didn't know how to whistle, but he soon went back to planning the rest of their trip to California.

_It should take somewhere around a year to get to California, if everything goes well. I can drop Ellie off with the Fireflies, and then head back to Boston. Getting back might take a while, but it shouldn't be a problem._

He stopped his current train of thought, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with his immediate plan.

_I can't just drop her off,_ a frown made its way onto his face, making him wonder how hard it would be to let her go.

Joel had to admit that they had somewhat of a "family bond", and he wasn't sure he could just leave that easy when they came to the Fireflies.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ellie's voice.

"Hey Joel!" she shouted, getting his attention, "You said we should be somewhere in Colorado, right?"

He realized that she was a ways in front of him, staring at something with a frown on her face.

"Yeah, something like that," he answered as he walked up to her, "What are you-?"

His question was cut short as he stared at the sign in shock and slight anger, seeing what she meant.

The sign simply read:

"Welcome to Oklahoma."

* * *

Another shorter chapter, but I figured this would be a good cliffhanger. So, Ellie and Joel have figured out that instead of going west towards California, instead at some point they started to go south (and are now in the small little extension of Oklahoma). That definitely puts a dent in Joel's plans. The next chapter will be out soon (probably sometime early tomorrow), so you won't have to wait long for Ellie's reaction (think back to what was mentioned in Chapter 12). Please tell me what you thought and any ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	28. Running Short on Time

**Legendary Swordsman:** It depends on how many setbacks they have while heading to California; right now, they are in the fifth or sixth month traveling together, and from Ellie's average she thought there were about four states left before California. Also, Ellie is fourteen right now in the fanfiction, but she will be fifteen by the time it ends (so I guess that's the question of what you count as a young adult). Thanks for the review!

* * *

Chapter 28: Running Short on Time

"You have got to be kidding me," was the first thing out of Joel's mouth when she showed him the sign.

She glanced over at him, and then at the sign.

"Nope, it's right there in front of you," she stated, motioning towards the sign, "And unless my map of the United States is wrong, I would say we are way off course."

Joel shook his head, a disbelieving look appearing on his face.

"Definitely off course," he muttered, continuing down the road.

She glanced at the sign, and then at Joel, jogging to catch up to him a moment later.

"So, you are directionally challenged?" Her question was meant as a joke, but either Joel wasn't in the mood for it, or he didn't understand; a somewhat annoyed expression replacing the disbelieving one.

Some small part inside of her freaked out; she definitely shouldn't have said that at this moment.

Joel shook his head, taking a deep breath. She could tell he was mad.

_All the signs check off,_ she lowered her pace a bit so she was a few feet behind him,_ might as well wait until he's cooled down a bit._

Ellie didn't want to damage their bond one bit; of course to her it seemed like it was already going downhill since they left Nebraska, and maybe even a bit before that.

Joel seemed to close up a bit, becoming more like he had when they had first started traveling together around six months ago. Some part of her felt sad, even somewhat lonely, at his sudden rejection of attention, but she knew that he was thinking about the end of their journey.

_Joel will leave me with the Fireflies, and then we probably won't see each other again,_ she thought, staring at the road as she walked,_ but maybe all these diversions aren't such a bad thing. Maybe we could just keep travelling across the United States together, and we don't have to find the Fireflies._

Ellie knew she was being selfish, but she didn't want to go back to getting negative attention and being ignored like back in the quarantine zone.

"Hey, what if I lead for a bit?" she asked, coming to walk in front of Joel a few paces.

He shook his head, making her somewhat disappointed and confused.

"We're too far off course already; I don't want us to get lost."

His statement was true, but that was kind of what she had been hoping to have happen.

_Then he couldn't dump me off with the Fireflies,_ she decided, trying to figure out what to do to slow them down, even for just a little bit.

Joel stopped suddenly, making her nearly run into him. She slightly glared, wondering why he had stopped.

"What-?" she started to ask, but stopped when she saw what he was staring at.

They were standing on a hill, overlooking what used to be a city, and dots littered the distance on all parts of the city.

"The reports were wrong."

Joel's statement brought her back to reality, letting the shock settle in a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard back in Boston some rumors about hunters overrunning Oklahoma, but this is worse."

Ellie saw what he meant, and she took a deep breath.

"That's a lot of clickers," she muttered, feeling a bit of a headache.

_Way too many clickers…_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Joel's voice.

"Are you, uh…?" His uncertain statement made her face red with embarrassment, already knowing what he was trying to ask.

"No," she answered quickly, and then started counting the days in her head.

The fact that Joel was staring at her the whole time didn't help, and she gave up after two minutes of trying and then forgetting. She shrugged, and he sighed; their form of somewhat silent communications.

"Let's hope we get out of here before that then," he answered, talking more to himself than to her.

She nodded, starting to follow him down into the city. A question popped into her mind as they walked through the streets, avoiding the Infected as much as possible.

"Why can't we just go around the city?" she questioned, tilting her head slightly while keeping her voice down.

"This is the most direct route to California," Joel explained and then caught his mistake, "Well, not the most direct route. We sort of missed that when we headed south. It would take too long to go around the city, and we don't have all the time in the world."

Ellie fell silent, feeling some sadness and bitter disappointment enter her.

_We have time; you just want to get this trip done with,_ she thought, silently glaring at his back.

She was sure by now that Joel knew when she was angry at him, but he didn't make a comment if he had realized it by now.

They continued to walk through the streets, heading through stores and houses every now and then to collect resources or avoid the Infected walking down the streets.

Joel pulled her into another house as a clicker started to round the corner of the street, swinging its head back and forth to catch a scent.

Ellie held her breath as she watched it stagger by, finding that no matter how many times she watched them, their rigid and uneven movements still made her nervous and slightly disturbed.

She let her breath out as the Infected continued down the street in the opposite direction, running frantically into one of the houses when it heard a noise.

Joel took this as their signal; they ran to the other side of the house and opened the back door, scanning the area for any more clickers. When they saw none, they continued cautiously through the area.

The day dragged on, and Ellie was starting to feel the effects of the constant heat. She felt her strength fade as time continued slowly, and she started to feel a bit nauseous.

The sound of clicking behind them made her freeze, and Joel had to roughly pull her by her arm to hide behind a crumbling wall; just big enough to fit the two of them behind it.

She didn't make any noise, but as she continued to stand there, she realized she felt weird. Confusion gave way to shock when the answer dawned on her, and she nervously glanced between the clicker and Joel, who was looking for their exit out of the city.

He had told her a few minutes before that they were almost out, making her feel somewhat relieved.

She bit her lip, knowing that she wasn't supposed to make any noise, but not sure if the clicker would find them first.

She saw Joel pull out his revolver, and she got the pistol ready, seeing the Infected coming closer towards them.

Joel glanced at her for a moment and nodded; she nodded back, understand what they had to do.

Joel's gunshot was the first thing she heard, and then the pain filled scream of the clicker.

It whipped its head towards her, and she instantly filled with dread when it started to run towards her.

She forgot she had the pistol for a moment, and instead started to run into one of the random alleyways she first saw.

She swore when she realized she had chosen a dead end.

_Out of all the times for my luck to run out, it just decides to do it now?_

Ellie turned around, gasping when she saw the Infected running towards her again. She glanced down at the pistol and then took aim, closing her eyes as she fired.

Another gunshot rang out the same time hers did, and she opened her eyes to see the clicker on the ground, dead with a pool of blood leaking out of its head.

She took a shaky breath, seeing Joel starting to walk up to her.

"Probably shouldn't have run, huh?" she questioned, feeling a bit guilty.

"They know we're here now, so we need to get out of the city fast," Joel stated, ignoring her question.

He turned around and started to leave, but Ellie caught his arm, her face turning red when he turned around to stare at her.

"What?" His question was left in the air for a moment, and she wasn't sure how to answer.

"Um, can I have the gauze?"

Joel unzipped his backpack, handing her the requested item a moment later. That had been her sign to let him know if she was hurt or having other issues, considering she normally couldn't tell him any other way.

She heard him sigh as he turned around, sounding aggravated as she started to unwrap some of the gauze.

"Couldn't it just wait until we were out of Oklahoma?" she heard Joel mutter. It made her somewhat mad; she knew that he was mainly talking to himself, but it wasn't her fault.

"Trust me, I wish I could just say 'go away', but I can't," she mumbled angrily, handing him back the gauze when she was finished.

He put it back into his backpack, and they set off again, this time more quickly since the Infected already knew they had already missed something in their search.

Joel led her quickly through another alleyway, and she guessed the sooner they got out of the city, the better.

Ellie felt frustration building up inside of her when they got out of the city; it was basically straight land with no coverage of trees or anything. She sighed, getting a glance from Joel.

"You remember the question you asked me about whether I wanted to go through hostile people or weather?" she questioned, following Joel as he started walking.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I choose neither."

He shook his head at her statement, and she knew they were in for a long, complicated walk across the small strip of Oklahoma.

"Once we get past this, it should get better," Joel's statement made her look at him.

He seemed tired, and she suddenly started to feel guilty for what she was putting him through.

"Do you think this is a mistake?" she asked, remembering their conversation from a few months back.

Joel didn't seem to get what she was meaning; he gave her a confused look when he answered her.

"Do I think what is a mistake?" he questioned, making her sigh and stare at the ground. She had been hoping that he would just understand what she was trying to ask, and not make her have to explain.

"Us traveling together," she mumbled after a few moments, still not looking at him. She heard him sigh, making her close her eyes.

"You see, I believe everything happens for a reason," Joel started out, the strangeness of his answer making her look at him, "so whether this journey turns out good or bad, there's still a purpose to it."

Ellie started to laugh; she couldn't help how strange his statement had been. She had never really heard what he had said before, but it seemed somewhat true.

"What if we end up dying out here?" she asked once she had calmed down, giving him an amused glance.

"Then it definitely turned out poorly," he shook his head, making her laugh again.

They fell into another silence for a bit after that, with Ellie having nothing to do. There was nothing to stare at besides the same colored ground and rocks, and her mind felt somewhat hazy.

She glanced at Joel, wondering what he was doing or thinking about.

"We've got a slight change of plans," Joel announced later that day at their rest stop.

Ellie looked up at him from where she was siting. They were planning to take a short rest here, and then continue walking into the night. They didn't want the Infected from the city to catch up to them; Joel was hoping the scent would fade the further away they got.

"I can already see that," she stated, trying not to laugh at the truth of his words. Joel shook his head, slightly amused.

"We're going to make it through the rest of Oklahoma, and then head through New Mexico and Arizona to get to California."

His plan made her somewhat saddened when she realized the number of states was dropping fast, and then they would have to part ways.

To try and get her mind off of the unpleasant thought, she started to try and map out their plan in her imaginary map. After a moment, she knew she couldn't do it in her head.

"One moment," she said, sitting down and starting to draw in the sand with her finger. Joel gave her an amused glance, not sure what she was doing as he came to sit beside her.

She drew in the sand until the drawing looked like the map in her head.

"So, we've been to these places." Her finger went from Boston, to New York, to Pittsburgh, to somewhere in Ohio, to Illinois, and then through Nebraska and south to Oklahoma.

"And we're right here." Joel drew a dot on the map of where he suspected they were. She glanced over at him, continuing as she drew.

"The plan is to go like this, right?" she asked, drawing a line from where they were, through New Mexico and Arizona, and then about half-way up through California.

"That's one way to put it," Joel stated as he leaned back, studying their map on the ground.

Ellie glanced over at him and smiled, proud of her work for once. She then frowned slightly when she realized her error.

"What's wrong?" Joel asked when he saw her glance back towards where they came from.

"I think we should erase this," she started, messing up the sand until it was somewhat normal again, "Just in case those clickers decide to find out where we went."

Joel smiled for a moment at what she said, making her feel happy.

"I know they shouldn't be smart enough to read, but it's always a possibility," she yawned a moment later, trying to hide it but failing.

She gave Joel a smile as he glanced at her, basically telling her to "go to bed."

She stood up, walking over towards her backpack and using it as a pillow.

She closed her eyes, knowing full well that Joel would wake her up when it was time to continue their journey.

* * *

A bit of a longer chapter, so hopefully that's good. Sorry this one didn't have much action in it, but most of the journey consists of walking and short run-ins with enemies, so I want to focus more on their "bond building time". Next chapter finds Ellie and Joel in New Mexico, making their time with each other short. Both have different reactions about what will happen, as well as different ideas (such as Ellie wanting to try and get them off course more in this chapter). Please tell me what you will think will happen next, as well as any ideas or comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	29. Nightmares

Chapter 29: Nightmares

_Ellie ran as soon as the bullet left her pistol, trying not to see the scene in front of her._

_ She was too slow though; the image being forever engraved into her mind to haunt her._

_ Her breath came in short gasps as she ran through the forest, trying to get anywhere that could be safe._

_ Fear gripped her heart when she stopped, listening for any clicking sounds coming from behind her. She didn't hear any, almost wishing that she would._

Joel said dead people don't become Infected, so of course I wouldn't hear anything,_ she thought, then felt tears blur her vision._

_ "Joel," she whispered, wanting to just lie down and stay where she was, but refusing to._

_ Joel had said that she had to find the others; that she would be safer if she did. Exhaustion swept over her when she realized she had no idea where she could start looking._

_ "The state's so big," she mumbled, sitting down despite Joel's warning._

_ She knew that the Infected would sense the shed blood, not as much as they would hers, but they would still find out soon enough._

After all, I am covered in it,_ she thought bitterly,_ in his.

_ She got up, walking further away from the sight, not wanting to make it haunt her so long as she was there._

_ She came to a river; seeing her bloodstained reflection in it made her only feel worse._

_ Loneliness fell over her, and she sat down and wept. She was alone on her own accord; she knew he had told her to shoot, but she didn't have to. She could have tried to find a different way._

He was infected; there was nothing I could have done,_ she repeated the words he had told her in her head over and over, until she felt dizzy and sick with the weight of them._

_ Clicking sounded in the distance, but she didn't care._

_ Joel was dead because of her._

* * *

Ellie jolted awake with a start, feeling her breath coming fast and wetness soaking her face.

_It's the same dream, but it's always the same, and always different._

Her thought made her almost hysterical; she started to search for Joel's form in the darkness. Her eyes fell on him sleeping, and she somewhat relaxed.

"Just a dream," she whispered to herself, trying to calm down.

Joel was just a few feet away; he was fine, so why did she feel so panicked?

_Almost like he's going to leave while I'm sleeping._

Tears blurred her vision as she stared at him, trying to differentiate between the blood soaked form from her dreams, and the Joel that was lying a few feet.

She crawled over towards him, still shaking, and hoped that he wouldn't be too mad.

* * *

Joel felt something real invade his sleep, making him somewhat wary. His eyes opened and his hand reached for his revolver, but he relaxed when he realized it was just Ellie.

Now more awake, he realized that her shaking form was pressed against his back.

_Why is she shaking?_ He shook his head, turning around to see her blue eyes full of fear; tears already staining her face.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked her, sitting up a bit. She shook her head, more tears falling down her face.

_Wrong thing to ask,_ he thought, wanting to somewhat smack himself for not knowing how to act around her.

"You're talking," her voice was a whisper, making her hard to hear, but he was able to figure out what she had said.

Confusion filled him as she stared at him.

_Maybe she means I was talking in my sleep, but I don't think I do, and why would that bother her so much?_

Questions assaulted his mind, making him shake his head. He opened his mouth to ask her what she meant, but then stopped.

_She wouldn't be bothered by me talking in my sleep, so it has to be something else._

Joel knew that Ellie had been waking up several times a night for the past few weeks since entering New Mexico, but she probably didn't know that he could tell. This time though, he had been asleep.

_ Is she having nightmares?_

The realization made him think back to their first night traveling together, and her "lack of" nightmares, as she had put it.

_So what would be giving her the nightmares now?_

His question remained unanswered; he wouldn't ask her now since the memory of the dream would be too fresh.

_It would just upset her more,_ he thought as he stared at her.

"Are you having nightmares again?" he asked, confirming his answer when shock filled her eyes.

_She doesn't know that I knew,_ he concluded, feeling like he should have told her.

"Do you want to stay over here?" he asked, feeling somewhat awkward for saying it.

They had stopped "snuggling" (as Ellie had playfully called it one day) once they had left Nebraska, so he wasn't sure how she would react to the question.

Her nod surprised him a bit, but he lied back down nonetheless.

He saw her eyes flutter closed, and he smiled slightly, wondering what could be bothering her.

His eyes wandered over to his backpack a few feet away, and he glanced down at Ellie, shaking his head.

_Not now,_ he thought, dismissing his attention from the letter. He closed his eyes, content when he heard Ellie's steady breathing beside him.

* * *

This chapter might actually be the shortest one yet (although I thought it was cute). I always thought that Ellie would have nightmares about Joel dying or getting infected (as she obviously has been since they entered New Mexico). Next chapter is a bit of a time skip (not too much though, only around a few days), and you will finally be able to know the contents of the letter Ellie refuses to read. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter as well as any ideas or comments in a review! (Also, I need ideas for Firefly names, so if you would like to send any feel free too)

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	30. Secrets that Weren't Known

**LittleSlytherin394:** Yeah that's one of my main fears as well (I'm hoping I'm wrong too). And yes, I am definitely going to use Tia (It's so pretty, and don't worry I don't think you're biased)! :)

**Legendary Swordsman:** Heading on the new route definitely gives them more time to talk :) And Haha, that's very true! I don't think Ellie would just take her shirt off in front of him (considering that would be very awkward), but I am definitely going to address that coming soon (possibly the next chapter).

* * *

Chapter 30: Secrets that Weren't Known

Joel had figured by now that the days in New Mexico were uneventful; nearly no run-ins and mostly walking.

Not that he was complaining; it was a nice break from constantly being attacked, and it was relieving to know that the Infected from Oklahoma hadn't followed them.

He glanced over at Ellie, who was lying down on the ground staring up at the sky.

Another day of walking had tired both of them out; not as much as more eventful days had though months ago.

The temperature had continued to climb over the past few days, making the rest stops they took become more regular (at least when there was enough shade).

Ellie caught his gaze, a somewhat amused one on her own face. He briefly wondered what she was thinking about.

"What?" she asked, sitting up while staring at him.

"Nothing," he shook his head, not wanting to get into a conversation right then.

She stared at him for a moment longer before shrugging, lying back down when he didn't say anything else.

He lied down on his back, staring up at the darkening sky as well.

"There used to be this kid at one of the quarantine zones," Ellie said suddenly, making him glance over at her, "His name was Timmy, or maybe it was Tommy, I forget."

He stayed silent when she tilted her head to the side slightly, trying to possibly remember the name. She shook her head, continuing.

"Anyways, one night he asked me what I was afraid of."

Joel felt confusion run through him; why was she telling him this?

"What did you say?"

His question made her glance over at him, shaking her head as she answered.

"I never got the chance to answer. The authorities made us head back to where we slept before I could. The next day, I got shipped off to a different boarding school, and I haven't seen him since."

"You care?"

"No, not really. Sure, it was nice for someone to try and be nice and not punch you in the face every time they saw you. I guessed he was new there, but his question keeps bothering me."

Ellie paused for a moment, taking a breath. He glanced over at her.

"That you didn't get to answer it?"

He saw her nod, closing her eyes as she continued.

"Yeah, I guess. Being out here kind of makes me think more. Sad thing was that I didn't even have an answer for him. I didn't know what I was afraid of, but now…"

She stopped again, almost like she was regretting speaking about the event at all.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

His statement made her shake her head, taking a deep breath as she did so.

"No, I think it's better if I talk about it," she said, "I guess maybe I'm just afraid to wake up and find out this was all a dream."

There was silence between them, and Joel pondered what she had said.

"So, you mean you think this is a dream?" Ellie shook her head.

"No, I'm hoping it's not a dream. I don't want to wake up and find out that I'm back at an old boarding school and that none of this happened."

Joel stayed quit for a moment, taking a slow breath.

"Do you need me to pinch you?" he asked, making her laugh. She shook her head, becoming silent.

Ellie fell asleep shortly after, leaving Joel to keep watch. So far, he hadn't seen any sign of the Infected since Oklahoma; the only thing they had run-in to so far was a stray hunter or two.

He kept glancing at his backpack, and then at her asleep, his thoughts wandering.

_Maybe I should just read it,_ he thought as he silently opened his backpack, taking out the letter, _just to get it over with._

His eyes scanned over the dirty front of the letter again; the corners of the letter were slightly crumpled, showing that it had been held and handled a lot.

He frowned slightly, glancing back over at Ellie to see her still asleep. His gaze softened a bit.

_I don't want to wake her,_ he thought, his eyes wandering back to the letter as he turned it over, slipping his finger under the flap and opening it.

His hand reached inside, pulling out a letter that looked like it was in similar condition to the envelope.

Joel unfolded the piece of paper, starting to read.

_Dear Ellie,_

_ I was finally able to convince myself to write to you and, after all this time, I hope you can forgive me. I have so much to explain to you, but I fear that I am running out of time. I know that you would be wary if I visited you in person, and that is normal considering what you have had to go through. I will explain everything I can in this letter and hopefully, once you've read it, then we can meet again._

_ I know that you believe you were an orphan, being shipped from boarding school to boarding school for so many years. I know you believe that your father and I abandoned you, but I was forced to._

_ Do not let the military find out what I am about to tell you; people in the highest authority will do anything for more power._

_I was afraid all those years ago that the military would find you and take you away, so I had to give you to the boarding school in Ohio. The best way to hide you was to let you grow up away from your origins, so that you would be safe._

_You are special Ellie, no matter what anyone has told you or what your own thoughts tell you; not just because you are my daughter, but because of the time when you entered this world._

_Your father was infected with the fungus before you were born, and he did not know that you even existed yet. I had to get away from Ohio, but I wanted to check on you first. I went to the boarding school, inquiring from one of my friends about your whereabouts, but they said that you had been shipped to the boarding school in Boston._

_I traveled to Boston and was able to take up residence there, hoping to see you at last. The news went out that you and another girl had escaped from the boarding school, heading out towards the Fireflies. I was worried when the military went after you, prompting the idea to write this letter in my head._

_I felt relieved when you came back to Boston; you didn't know, but I saw you come back through the gates. You snuck past the guards and into the abandoned house right across from my own living quarters. _

_It was hard having to keep my distance, but I wanted to see you after all these years. I used to enter the abandoned house at night and watch you once you had fallen asleep, always leaving early in the morning so you wouldn't be startled._

_The night you were born, a friend of your father's was there; the only man I felt I could trust after your father died. His name was Joel. If you ever find him, you can take my word that you can trust him. When you were born, you weren't breathing; there were small traces of the fungus around your eyes, and I was worried that you were dead. Joel helped to clear away the fungus, and we found out that you were fine._

_I thought that was the end of our troubles for a short hour, but then I figured that it was just starting. The fungal infection was dormant in me for all these years, being infected from your father. Half of the fungal infection went to me, and half of it went to you._

_Don't be worried; this is actually a good thing for you. The pre-mature interaction with the fungus gives you a sort of tolerance, around 50% to put it in easier terms._

_I have sent a similar letter to the Fireflies, explaining some of what is in this letter. They should be looking for you soon, so you won't be found by the military. Keep the information I have told you safe, and I hope to see you soon after you have read this._

_I love you,_

_Mom_

Joel looked away from the letter, wishing he wouldn't have read it. Memories came back to him; ones that he had stored away that caused pain.

He took a shaky breath, glancing over at Ellie's sleeping form.

_Tolerance? Does that mean she can't get infected?_

His thoughts made him shake his head, knowing that couldn't be true. Ellie had been infected back in Ohio, but did that mean that the tolerance was supposed to help fight it.

Feeling a headache coming on, Joel knew he needed time to sort through the information. He took a deep breath and then got to work analyzing the letter.

* * *

Ellie woke up when it was still dark; something that she guessed was a habit now from starting their trips so early in the morning.

She blinked her eyes a few times to clear her vision. Her gaze fell upon Joel, who was sitting a few feet away from her.

She glanced at the sky, and then got up, grabbing her backpack and walking over towards him.

Sitting down beside him, she looked over and saw a somewhat shocked look on his face. He also looked like he was thinking about something.

"Hey," she whispered, not wanting to startle him. He glanced over at her, nodding to show that he had heard.

She glanced down at something in his hands, feeling some shock when she saw the letter, now opened. She looked up at him, some uncertainty filling her.

"Something wrong?" she asked, feeling her heartbeat increase. Joel shook his head, still not answering. He seemed somewhat pale, but she didn't want to point it out to him with the way he was acting.

"Find anything out?" she questioned after a moment, motioning towards the opened letter.

Joel shook his head, letting out a deep sigh. Something was definitely bothering him. He only handed her the letter and she took it, reading over the contents.

Different emotions flooded her: some shock, confusion, sadness, and finally acceptance.

She sat in silence for a while, sitting next to Joel while she let her mind process her thoughts.

"That was a bit more shocking than I thought it would be," she said at last, placing the letter back in her backpack. She figured Joel wouldn't really want to hang onto that.

_Personal was right,_ she thought, thinking back to an earlier conversation from when she had given him the letter.

Joel nodded, taking another breath.

"You alright?" he asked, glancing over at her. She met his gaze, breathing out slowly.

"Yeah, I think so."

Joel looked like he wasn't satisfied with her answer, which prompted her to continue.

"I just need some time to think, that's all."

He nodded, his gaze softening a bit.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

His question shocked her a bit, and her gaze traveled to the ground. After a moment, she nodded.

"I guess part of my idea of who it was is right," she started, shaking her head in slight disbelief.

She felt her head hurt a bit, so she leaned it against her knees.

"What do you have as a summary so far?"

"Well, my dad is dead, and my mom had to give me up to the boarding schools. Both of them were infected, which made me infected, but in a slightly good way as a 'tolerance'. It mentioned something about sending a letter to the Fireflies, and then something about you."

Joel nodded, letting out a sigh. She looked at him for a moment, seeing an unreadable expression on his face.

"Yeah," he muttered, apparently not going to say more.

Ellie sighed, thinking through the letter again. Her mind came to a realization, but she wanted to check with Joel first.

"Hey Joel, that vaccine is supposed to destroy the fungus, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Since my tolerance is based off of the fungus being inside me; that means you killed half my tolerance."

Joel's eyes widened and she felt like laughing at his face. She didn't though, considering how it had just dawned on him.

"Oh," was all he could say when he realized what she meant.

"50% just changed to 25%," she muttered, resisting the urge to laugh.

She heard him sigh again, but she couldn't hold her laughter in any longer; he soon joined her. Once they had calmed down, she started to smile.

_That felt nice,_ she thought, feeling a bit more relaxed. She glanced over at Joel and saw that he felt the same effect.

"Ready to keep walking?" she questioned, and surprise entered her when Joel shook his head.

"We should rest up; no idea what's ahead," he stated, lying down, "besides, I haven't slept yet."

"Oops," she muttered, realizing he was right. She had slept, but he had been up the whole time.

She lied back down again, smiling at him before she gave herself up to her dreams.

* * *

This chapter was a bit harder to write (especially the letter), but I'm glad I was able to get it out. So, the person who wrote the letter is Ellie's mother (her name will be revealed in later chapters). That answers one of the questions you probably had in your head, but there are most likely many more. Next chapter finds Joel and Ellie entering Arizona, and the temperature keeps on rising (hint: Ellie experiences the second most awkward/embarrassing moment of her life). Please tell me what you thought in a review (I also need more Firefly names, so feel free if you have any ideas)!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	31. Things That Should Be Awkward

**Legendary Swordsman:** Yep, you guessed right (Haha the awkwardness that ensues)! And yes, those questions will be answered later, but I don't want to give too much away at one time. Thanks for the advice too!

* * *

Chapter 31: Things That Should Be Awkward (But Sometimes Are Not)

"This has to be the second most embarrassing thing I have ever seen in my life," Ellie muttered, her eyes glued to the ground.

She heard a sigh from Joel, and knew that he was regretting his question. They continued walking anyway, but she refused to look at him.

"I can put it back on if you want me to," his statement made her glance over at him, and then quickly made her gaze move back to the ground as her face turned red.

"No, its fine," she lied, feeling slightly awkward, "I don't want to have you pass out or die because of the heat."

Another sigh from Joel told her that he knew she was lying. She stayed silent as they walked, trying to ignore what she had just seen.

"Ellie-" Joel started to say, but she cut him off, shaking her head.

"Joel, how can you not find any of this awkward?" she asked, finally staring at him, "You're shirtless!"

She wanted to shout at him, but her face turned red again and her throat closed up in embarrassment.

Ellie had woken up to the Arizona heat blazing down on them, and the worst part was that it was early in the morning.

The heat had continued to rise, until she was forced to remove the inner black long-sleeved shirt she usually wore, placing it in her backpack with her unneeded jacket. She had left her red shirt on, feeling a bit bad that Joel was probably overheating too.

The temperature got to the point that they were both covered in sweat, and Joel had finally asked if he could remove his shirt. She found nothing wrong with the idea, saying "Sure, go ahead."

She realized her mistake a moment later when Joel had nothing on _underneath_ the shirt. Her gaze had instantly snapped to the ground, and her face lit up in embarrassment.

"What happened to people wearing tank tops or something underneath of their shirts?" she questioned, covering her eyes with her hand.

After her question, the answer was obvious; she forgot what time period she lived in, and tank tops or something like that probably wasn't much of a necessity.

Ellie had continued throughout the day, trying not to look at Joel that much. They still talked, but it was more strained than usual, and she could tell that Joel didn't like it much.

She sighed, trying to find something to get her mind off of their 'predicament'. She thought back to a conversation they had a few months ago.

"_Hey Joel?" she wanted to get his attention, but then started to second guess her idea, thinking it might be too strange. They had only been traveling together for two months._

"_Yeah?" came his short reply, and she stayed silent for a moment, finally deciding that since she had started to ask, she might as well finish._

"_Don't you ever need to shave?" He gave her an amused look at her question while she smiled at him the best she could without laughing._

"_Shave what?"_

_His reply made her want to laugh more at the obviousness of what she was asking, but she knew that he was slightly teasing her._

"_Your beard," her smile grew wider, and she bit her lip as Joel turned around to stare at her._

_Ellie had to admit, she at least knew that Joel's beard had grown scruffier in the past two months. She started laughing when she saw Joel's expression, not being able to help it._

"_Why would you ask something like that?" he questioned, making her want to laugh even more. She was able to compose herself by looking away from him._

"_I don't know. Just curious, I guess," she answered, and he shook his head, a disbelieving look on his face._

_They continued walking, and she jogged to catch up to him. She stared at him for a few moments._

"_So, are you going to tell me the answer?" She prodded, making him sigh._

"_No."_

"_Why not?"_

"_It falls under the category of annoying questions."_

_She frowned, slowing her pace a bit so that she was walking behind him. She had learned so far that one way to get him to start talking was to try and suggest something._

It's worth a try;_ she increased her pace a bit so that she was walking beside him._

"_I use my switchblade to cut my bangs sometimes. You could use that if you want."_

_Joel stared at her for a moment, sighing as he closed his eyes. She could tell she was giving him a headache._

"_Why must you be so persistent?" she heard him mutter, before continuing louder, "Fine."_

_She started to take her switchblade out of her pocket, but stopped when Joel shook his head._

"_Not now though." His statement made her frown a bit, but she at least felt a bit more satisfied with his answer._

_Shaving a beard with a switchblade wasn't the safest method, but they had been through worse._

"What was the first most embarrassing thing in your life?" Joel's question made the memory vanish, bringing her back to the present. She lifted her head towards the sky slightly, thinking about whether or not to tell him.

"Back at the barn in Ohio," her answer prompted a confused look from Joel. He obviously wasn't getting what she meant.

"What was so bad about that?"

She sighed, her face turning red for what she was about to say.

"With the Infected; why we had to 'evacuate' the barn in the first place…" Her sentence trailed off, and Joel seemingly remembered as his eyes widened.

"Oh…"

They stayed silent for a moment, and by the day's end, things weren't so awkward anymore.

Ellie was currently using her backpack as a pillow and was staring up at the sky. She had put her long-sleeved black shirt back on underneath of her red one considering that it got colder at night, but she knew she would probably remove it in the morning when the temperature rose again.

_As well as Joel's shirt disappearing again,_ she sighed as she glanced over at him, seeing that he had put his shirt back on for the night as well.

She contemplated what she was about to say next, and then decided that it was at least worth a short.

"So, do you need to use my switchblade so shave again?"

* * *

This chapter was another short one, as well as being a bit of filler, but I wanted to show how the interaction between Ellie and Joel has grown (from the flashback and then to the present). Next chapter starts one of the main story events of this fanfiction, so be ready for something big. Please tell me any comments and ideas in a review (as well as more Firefly names)!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	32. Trapped

**Legendary Swordsman:** Thanks for the review! Sorry about not being more descriptive (I'm going to try more for that in the rest of the chapters). I believe that the stress of the due date for this fanfiction is making my writing habits a bit different than what I usually do. I am definitely going to use some of those names (and in a few chapters some of them will appear). Thanks for the suggestions!

**NineJulySkies:** Yay, glad to know that this has more of Arizona in it then! And thanks for the review!

* * *

Chapter 32: Trapped

A few days later, (and just when Ellie was getting somewhat used to seeing Joel shirtless) it started raining, forcing the temperature down again. The cooler temperature, as well as the rain, was a nice change from the constant heat.

Joel had announced to her around mid-day that they were supposedly half-way through Arizona, leaving her with sadness for the past hour or so.

_He seems so happy that we'll be arriving soon. Has anything really even changed since the beginning?_

Her thoughts only drove her deeper into her sadness; she had to admit that she didn't want to go with the Fireflies now. Of course, if Joel didn't want her to tag along anymore, she would be forced to go with the rebel group.

One idea stood clear in her mind: How would Joel react if she told him she didn't want to go with the Fireflies, but instead wanted to stay with him?

She felt torn; one part of her was hoping something had changed between them, but the other was worried that he wouldn't want her around anymore. She knew that she felt Joel was like family to her now.

_Maybe even like a father,_ she thought, hoping that her real father wouldn't be too disappointed; after all, Joel had been the one taking care of her for longer than he had. She knew it wasn't her real father's fault; he had died before she was even born, but she still felt more of a connection with Joel.

She hadn't talked much since Joel's announcement, and apparently he was starting to notice.

"Anything bothering you?" his question stopped her train of thought, and she looked at him from where she was walking.

"No, just thinking," she answered, shaking her head.

Joel didn't seem very satisfied with her answer, but he knew by now that he couldn't force her to talk about something if she didn't want to.

"The military seemed to make a big deal of the Fireflies when I was back at the boarding school," she started a few moments later, not liking the silence, "They were always talking trash about them."

"Probably wanted you to adopt the same ideals," Joel shrugged, and she knew that he was most likely right.

"It gets me thinking though; if the Fireflies are enemies of the military, wouldn't they see us as enemies as well since we are coming from Boston?"

Joel took a moment to think; he let out a breath and stopped walking for a moment, resuming when he started to answer.

"I don't think so. We're not with anyone; we're just on our own. Let's hope not though, or else this is going to be a lot more complicated."

Joel seemed to have said the last part to himself, although Ellie felt a bit of hope at what he said. If the Fireflies wouldn't take her, then Joel would be forced to keep traveling with her.

She knew she was being kind of selfish, but she didn't want Joel to leave.

_He's actually one of the first people to treat me kindly;_ she smiled for a moment at her thought.

Ellie looked around her, seeing that the rain had partially stopped. The cooler temperature remained and, as well as being soaked, made her somewhat want to grab her jacket from her backpack.

Some part of her wished for a more variety of surroundings; all they saw really was dry ground and occasional rivers.

"Speaking of rivers," she mumbled, pointing towards a blue streak in the distance.

Joel followed her gaze, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun. He glanced at her, both of them nodding at what that meant.

They continued walking, this time towards the river. Ellie had to admit that walking through rivers was the closest to clean she had ever gotten outside the quarantine zone. Inside the quarantine zone hadn't been much better, but at least if you got cleaning as a chore (or punishment) then you could have a chance of dumping the water on yourself instead.

"Say it was an accident," her whisper attracted Joel's attention, but she waved him off.

_No one really wanted to bathe in dirty water either way though;_ the fact had been clear, meaning that most of the kids back at the quarantine zone were dirty all the time,_ Not that it wasn't normal…_

Joel tapped her on the shoulder, making her look up. The river was in front of them and, even though it would get warmer later on in the day, she was not looking forward to having soaked clothes in the colder temperature.

She let out a shaky breath when they got to the other side, already feeling the effects of the water and air mixing. Joel gave her a glance, and she shook her head, signifying that she was fine.

_I could ask if we could stop for the day, but he wouldn't go for it so early;_ her thought made her sigh.

Why did Joel have to be in such a hurry anyway? Sure, they had been gone from Boston for around ten months, as well as having nearly everything outside of the quarantine zones trying to kill them, but couldn't he slow down a bit?

_He wouldn't believe me if I say that I'm tired. I've kept up just fine for the past few months, so it wouldn't make much sense._

She gave him a wary glance, wondering if she should say anything.

Joel's eyes suddenly narrowed, making her tilt her head in confusion. He looked as if he were remembering something…

His eyes widened and she followed his gaze, seeing something moving up ahead. She covered her eyes and saw that the shapes looked like a group of people.

"This can't be happening," she heard him mutter as she glanced at him.

"So, good or bad?" she questioned, hoping that the group would be friendly. The frown on Joel's face didn't reassure her though.

There was nowhere for them to hide if the group wasn't friendly, which would make for a blood bath. She cringed slightly, making sure she could reach her pistol if need be. By the size of the group, it looked like they would be outnumbered.

Ellie glanced around them frantically, trying to find some sort of shelter they could use. Seeing nothing made her swear. Joel glanced at her as the group came closer, standing in front of her so that she couldn't see. She guessed that they wouldn't be able to see her either.

"Stay quiet," his urgent whisper made her slightly panic, but she nodded despite not being able to see what was happening.

"Well, what do we have here?" she heard a voice ask; an almost mocking tone to the words. She felt her anger rise a bit, but stayed behind Joel despite wanting to reach for the pistol.

"Never thought I'd see you out here again," another voice mocked, making her bite her lip. Despite her anger, she felt confusion run over her.

_What does he mean by that? Does Joel know them?_

Her thoughts were cut off when she saw Joel fall to the ground with a thump; panic instantly filled her. The men were staring at her, but it didn't seem like Joel was injured.

She bent down to see him knocked out. A moment later, she noticed something that looked like a dart in his arm.

_Just like back at the safe house!_ The realization dawned on her, and she started to reach for her pistol. Her eyes widened when she realized she was severely outnumbered.

"Oh-" Ellie didn't even have time to finish her sentence when she felt a dart hit her as well. She fell towards the ground, noticing one of the men with the group that had fired the tranquilizer darts.

_It was a trap all along,_ her conscious started to fade, and she felt the group split in two; one taking her somewhere, and the other taking Joel far away from her.

She blacked out, but soon started to wake again.

Shouting assaulted her ears, as well as thuds that signified people hitting the ground.

_Not more,_ she thought with a groan as she opened her eyes.

She found out that she was on the dry ground, and started to pick herself up, but her strength faded. She fell back on the ground again, waiting for the commotion to be over.

_Maybe they'll think I'm dead and move on;_ the thought was bleak, but at least it was worth a shot.

The commotion ceased after a while, and everything was quiet for a bit. Ellie guessed that she was still suffering some effects of the sleeping drug; she felt her conscious slip away as she wondered where they had taken Joel.

* * *

This chapter is the start of something very important that happens in Arizona. Hopefully it was more exciting than the last few. So, Joel and Ellie are separated (that hasn't happened since back with her first encounter with the hunters), making their trip a little more difficult (after all, how would they get to the Fireflies if they aren't together?). Ellie's captors have been attacked, but does that mean that the new group are friends or enemies? Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	33. No One Left Behind

Chapter 33: No One Left Behind

Ellie groaned as she sat up; her memory was hazy. She opened her eyes, expecting to see that she was at a rest stop with Joel, but stopped when she realized that Joel wasn't here.

_Where is he?_ Her thoughts grew frantic as she looked around the room, searching for Joel.

The room she was in looked like something that would have been a medical tent; the walls looked like they were made of some kind of animal leather, and there were wooden tables with some kind of instruments on them. She also realized she was on a makeshift bed.

"Glad to know you're alright, kid," a deep voice said from beside her, making her look over to see an older man sitting in a chair next to the bed. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

_Strange man, right beside me, oh my-_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt herself hit the floor as she scrambled to get away from him. The man looked somewhat startled, but then seemed to relax a bit, realizing the reason she was freaking out.

"Relax, I didn't do anything," his statement made her frantic dash away stop, but she still felt a bit wary.

"What did you do with Joel?" her question came out harsh, almost interrogating, as she felt her anger rise a bit. The man gave her a confused look.

"Joel?"

"Yeah, he was traveling with me. Your buddies kind of took him."

Her statement made understanding appear in the man's eyes, making her reach for her pocket and pull out her switchblade. He seemed a bit startled at first, but then waved her weapon away.

"Put that away; you won't need it. What I'm guessing is that your friend was captured by the other group."

She put the switchblade away like he had asked, instantly curious. She tilted her head slightly as she sat down on the make-shift bed.

"Other group?" The man nodded at her question, continuing.

"That group of hunters has been looting whoever comes their way, taking hostages from our little band of survivors. The hunters are one group, but they usually split into smaller parties in order to gather more supplies. Your friend probably got taken by one of the other parties back to their main hideout."

Ellie sighed, feeling worry course through her. She knew Joel could take care of himself, but with what this man was telling her, she guessed that this group of hunters was more skilled than the others.

"Where's the hideout?" she asked, her mind already made up on what she had to do. The man apparently saw what she was planning to do, and he shook his head.

"You're not in any condition to go after them. I hate to tell you, but your friend's most likely already at their hideout by now, possibly dead."

Ellie frowned, not liking what he was saying. She grabbed her backpack from where it was leaning against the bed, standing up and walking out of the tent.

"I don't care. I'm not going anywhere without him."

She opened the flap of the tent, seeing a small camp with other make-shift tents in a circle.

_They're like their own civilization,_ her mind was briefly distracted from the task at hand; she remembered hearing about something like what she was seeing from one of the Fireflies back in Boston, _although he left me to fend for myself too. I'm not going to do the same to Joel._

She shook her head, focusing on what she had to do. She heard the man come out of the tent from behind her.

"You're determined to do this, aren't you?" He asked, making her glance at him. She nodded and he sighed.

"If that's so, then I'm going to come with you."

The man's statement made her eyes widen as shock ran through her.

_I was not expecting that._

The man chuckled at the expression on her face, reminding her a bit of Joel.

"You clearly still have most of your morals left. Not everything had to be ditched when the infection started."

The man grabbed a sack and weapon from the side of the tent. She glanced at the weapon as he walked over towards her. The weapon looked similar to a crossbow, but what interested her was the needle-looking ammo that was loaded into the weapon. She instantly recognized it from back when she and Joel had gotten captured by the guards.

"My name is Samuel," the man introduced, holding out his hand, "Sam for short."

"Ellie," she stated, shaking his hand briefly. She pointed towards his weapon.

"Were you out in Illinois a few months ago?"

Her question prompted a puzzled expression from Sam, and he shook his head.

"No, I only stay around here. Illinois would be too far away to travel to."

"Where did you get that then?"

"This?" Sam asked as he motioned towards his crossbow, and she nodded, "I found it lying around a few weeks ago. It's pretty handy, but it took a bit of getting used to."

_It wasn't him then,_ she quickly guessed that Samuel was not the person who had taken down the guards back in Illinois, _but it was worth a shot._

"Which direction is the hideout?" she asked, glancing at the sky and seeing that it had been about an hour; the sun was still high in the blue sky.

"That way," Sam answered, pointing towards a river in the distance, "Shouldn't take too long to get there, but you'll have to cross that river first."

"I don't mind," she started following behind him.

_I would cross all the rivers in the United States to get Joel back,_ she thought, gazing into the distance.

* * *

Another short chapter, but I thought the ending was cute. Ellie is now traveling with Samuel and mounting a rescue mission for Joel. Sam said that Joel could possibly be dead by now, but what do you think will happen? Next chapter will reveal the truth, as well as making Ellie put the skills Joel has taught her over the past few months to test. Please tell me what you think would happen, as well as any comments in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	34. Breaking Free

**Legendary Swordsman:** Here's the next chapter (the answer to your wondering)! :)

* * *

Chapter 34: Breaking Free

"I'll buy you as much time as I can, but these guys are smarter than most survivors," Sam whispered from a few feet away, loading his crossbow.

Ellie glanced at him and nodded, making sure her pistol was stored in her backpack. She peeked out from behind the gray slab of rock they were hiding behind, seeing the hunter's hideout just down the hill. The river was behind them now, and she hoped that the water wouldn't lead a trail to them.

"Thanks," she whispered, taking the bow and arrows that he handed her. He had grabbed them from back at their camp, saying that she could use them if need be.

"There should be an airway vent on the south side of the hideout; you can get through there," he pointed and she saw what he meant. The sun had lowered in the sky a bit, and the threat of rain had made clouds cover the sky in a thick blanket.

_Rain might help hide me better,_ she thought, looking around the outside of the hideout for anyone that might be looking for trespassers.

The hideout seemed more complex than it looked; the building was made out of rusting metal and looked to contain various rooms on the inside. Some kind of light source was shining through a few of the broken windows.

_Hopefully the vents will connect to the rooms and lead me straight to Joel._

Her heart beat fast from anticipation, and some fear. She knew that if she was caught, then she would most likely be killed, and that wouldn't help Joel one bit.

She started to sneak around the slab of rock, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She glanced back to see Sam smiling at her.

"Good luck kid," he stated, making her smile in return.

"You too," she answered before sliding down the hill towards the vent.

Ellie kept glancing around her frantically, not wanting to be spotted by any lookouts. She knew that if she was spotted, Sam would take the hunters down the best he could, but that would raise an alarm.

She quickly made her way to the vent, running her fingers along the edges to find a way to pull it off. Her fingers slipped through a gap, and she pulled hard. The vent came off its hinges a moment later, letting her slip inside.

The vent was bigger than she expected it to be; it could fit her and her backpack with a bit of room to spare. She knew a grown man couldn't fit inside the vent, but she luckily wasn't a grown man.

She crawled along the vent for a few feet before it went straight upwards, most likely leading into the upper areas of the hideout. She turned around a pulled a flashlight out of her backpack, remembering that Joel had given it to her after finding it on the lone scavenger they had encountered in New Mexico.

She took a quick moment to think and then tied the flashlight to one strap of her backpack like she had seen Joel do. She turned the flashlight on, seeing the space around her light up.

Ellie smiled at her success, but quickly turned the flashlight off when she heard voices outside the vent.

"What do you think you'd find in there?" a man's voice echoed from outside the vent. She paused, glancing at the entrance and then to the vertical angle the vent went in.

"The boss came back with the man, but the other group disappeared with the girl. They were found dead half-way to the hideout and the girl was gone," another hunter stated, and she saw a shadow reflect onto the vent's walls.

Deciding that she didn't want to get caught now, she quickly braced her hands and legs against the side of the vent, starting to climb up the vertical incline.

The climb was worse than she thought it would be; the inside of the vent was slippery from water. She let out a breath when she got to the top, glancing back down to see a light where she had been.

"You thought you were going to see a girl in the vent?" the first man's voice mocked, and the light disappeared.

"You never know; it's always good to check," the men's voices faded, and she let out a breath she had been holding.

Luckily the vent went in a straight line; light filtered in from screens in the vent, showing the rooms below as she climbed over top of them. She glanced down into each one, finding that most of them were empty.

_Where is he?_ She wondered when she didn't see Joel in any of the rooms, hoping that what Sam had told her back at the camp wasn't true;_ they wouldn't just get rid of him._

Ellie bit her lip when she saw the vent drop sharply downwards. She crawled to the edge, but then backed up a bit when she felt herself almost slip. Glancing back, she knew that she wouldn't be able to get back up this way if she did go down.

_Joel wasn't in any of the other rooms. It's possible that he's being kept in a room without a vent, but I don't think that would be likely. He's most likely down this way, if anything;_ she took a deep breath, sliding down the vent.

The impact of her ankle hitting the metal below made her want to scream; she instead bit her lip, finding it slightly hard to breathe through the pain. She rolled her pant leg up and saw that her ankle was just sprained from the impact, something she was grateful for.

_It could be worse,_ she thought, tying her pant leg tightly around her ankle to try and stem the pain.

Her eyes wandered over towards streams of light at the end of the vent, and she crawled towards it, aware of the pain in her leg.

She glanced out from the vent, seeing a hunter walking down the hall with a gun. She inwardly cringed, but waited until the man turned the corner to get out of the vent. She quickly replaced the vent cover and snuck over down a side hallway.

Footsteps made her instantly hide behind a crate of supplies; she peeked out from behind it a moment later to see a hunter standing with his back towards her.

Ellie glanced beside her and saw another vent, except this one was screwed shut. She pulled out her switchblade, starting to unscrew the rusty bolts.

The noise it made attracted the attention of the hunter a bit. She stopped when she heard a curious "Hmm?" from the hunter.

Peeking out from behind the crate, she knew she wouldn't be able to get into the vent as long as the hunter was there.

_I could wait until he leaves,_ her thought made her shake her head, knowing there was only one option:_ I have to take him out._

The thought made her look down at her switchblade and then at the man, making her shake a bit. Sure, she had shot her fair share of hunters with the pistol, but she had left the more gruesome ways of killing to Joel.

_I can't use the pistol here; it would attract too much attention._

She left her backpack by the vent grate, sneaking out from behind the crate with only her switchblade.

The man was only a few feet away. She could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest as she closed the gap between him. She had seen Joel take out enemies before, and she knew just the right way to take the man out with her switchblade.

When she got close enough without the hunter knowing, she quickly wrapped one of her hands around his mouth, making sure he couldn't make any noise. The man tried to shake her off, but she quickly shoved the switchblade into his neck, closing her eyes.

Gurgling sounded moments later and the hunter's body dropped to the ground. She backed away from it, somewhat stunned as she stared at the body and then her bloodied switchblade.

She took a shaky breath as she crept back over towards the vent grate, knowing that she only had a limited amount of time before the other hunters would find the man's dead body. She quickly unscrewed the rest of the grate, slipping inside.

Just when she had replaced the grate, she heard shouting from where the dead man's body was. Not wanting to get anyone on her trail, she backed into the grate more and turned a corner, leaning against a wall as she listened to the hunters' conversation.

"He's dead!" a voice shouted, alarm running through it, "Someone's broken in!"

"Looks like a knife wound, maybe by a shiv?"

"Who could have got in? We had the area secured?"

"There was that one man, but he couldn't have made it in!"

Ellie left their yelling behind, following the vent as their voices faded after time. The one comment about the 'one man' made her think of Sam, but she didn't have time to worry about that.

She saw another grate ahead and crawled towards it. She pushed on the grate, but saw that it was screwed shut like the other one. The thing that caught her attention the most was that the screws were on her side, almost as if the grate had been made to keep whatever was in the room in there.

Her eyes scanned the room inside, gasping when she saw a very familiar figure a few feet away from her.

"Joel?" her question came out as a shocked whisper. Of course, she had been searching for Joel, but what she saw wasn't what the way she had expected to find him.

Joel was tied to a chair, a gash on his forehead. He stirred a bit, apparently hearing her.

"Ellie?" he looked around and she saw that he was somewhat confused.

"Over here," she tried to stick her hand through the grate, but was only successful in slipping her finger through.

Joel turned a bit in the chair, his eyes widening when he saw her. His surprise then turned to anger.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered angrily, although she could see worry in his eyes.

"I'm coming to get you," she observed the grate, starting to unscrew the bolts that kept it shut.

_They're there to keep Joel in, but they never thought that I could get him out._

"Ellie, I need you to get out of here. Whatever you're planning, it won't work," his words made her stop, and she stared at him. He seemed exhausted. Joel continued.

"We're in Arizona. California is just up the coast from here; it's not that far away," Joel gave her a serious look, and she caught the meaning behind his words.

"No! I'm not leaving without you! We've come this far together; why can't we just finish?"

"Ellie, these hunters are different-"

"How then? How are they different from any other thing we've faced?"

Joel sighed at her words, a faraway expression in his eyes. She stared at him, wanting him to answer. Even if he didn't answer any more of her questions, she just wanted the answer to this one.

"There are things a person can do to you that are worse than death. Taking away family, a friend, someone you care about; it's all suffering that makes you _want_ to die."

The more Ellie stared at him, the more it seemed that Joel was stuck in a memory, maybe even his own past. He looked strangely forlorn, but he shook his head after a few moments. His eyes closed, and she wondered if he was just going to clam up.

"Joel, I'll find a way to get us out of her, I promise," she whispered, not even sure if he could hear her.

She continued her work on the screws, not liking how silent Joel was.

"Ellie, you need to get out of here before he comes back," Joel's voice was stern, but she shook her head.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to. The vent is too slippery to get back up. The only way out is forward," her comment made him swear.

She glanced at the grate and saw she only needed one more bolt to go. She opened her mouth to say something, but froze when she heard a door open.

Her instincts kicked in; she reached back and grabbed her pistol from her backpack, laying it beside her in case they needed it. She continued her work on the last bolt, glancing in every now and then on Joel.

Someone else was in the room, but the figure was obscured from her view. She heard heavy footsteps walking around near Joel's location.

Her eyes widened when she saw the figure jerk his curled fist into Joel's stomach hard; Joel only grunted as the air went out of him.

"It seems as if someone's breached our security," a deep voice stated, and she saw the figure lean close to Joel. She saw something glint in the dim light that filtered through the room. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized it was a knife; the blood stains on it made her work faster to get the bolt undone.

The bolt got stuck half-way through, making a desperate feeling go through her.

"It couldn't have been your little friend, could it?" the man's voice mocked, followed by more sounds of pain.

Ellie felt her work slowdown; she started smelling blood, and the bolt wasn't coming loose. The pained filled noises that Joel was making made her want to cry, and she stopped her work, glancing frantically around her.

She took a few calming breaths, glaring at the grating.

_If it's not going to come out the easy way, then I'll force it out._

She backed up a bit in the vent, facing forward, and kicked the grate her hard as she could. The grate gave way, smacking into the hunter that had been torturing Joel.

She grabbed her backpack and the pistol, slipping out of the vent and over towards Joel. She felt tears start to stream down her face as she cut the rope holding him to the chair; he had several wounds in various places.

The rope was about half-way cut when she started talking.

"Sorry it took me so long," she muttered as she gave him a worried glance, "Are you ok?"

She realized how stupid the question was; he was hurt, bleeding, and tied to a chair, so of course he wasn't ok.

Joel opened his mouth to say something, but Ellie didn't hear him when she felt pain run along the course of her arm. She backed away from him, dropping her switchblade on the floor. A glance at her arm made her see a long red line running down it.

_Forgot he existed,_ she glared at the hunter, figuring by now that he was the leader.

"Look who decided to show up," the hunter had her cornered, and she didn't want him to come any closer. She glanced over at Joel as she aimed the pistol at the hunter, seeing his eyes widen.

"Leave her alone Troy!" Joel demanded, struggling against the half-cut ropes around his wrists.

The hunter gave Joel a look, and Ellie wondered briefly how Joel knew this group. She ducked when the hunter swung the knife at her again, not wanting to get cut. She stumbled towards the floor, still aiming the pistol at the hunter. He laughed at her, making her somewhat angry.

Joel broke free of his bondages and everything broke into chaos; it went so fast that she wasn't sure if it had actually happened.

Joel and Troy started a fist fight. Ellie scrambled to get her switchblade, but it was knocked out of reach again. She glanced at it sliding across the floor, and then saw that Joel was being held up against a wall by the hunter, the knife looming very close towards his neck. She took one second to decide, aimed the pistol at Troy's head, and fired. The hunter fell to the ground dead.

Ellie sat on the ground, shaking and breathing fast. Joel looked at the dead body, whistled, and walked over towards her.

"Good shot," he commented, making her turn her gaze away from the body and to him. She gave him a shaky nod, and he helped her up.

"I think we should get out of here," Joel led her out of the room, busting open the door with a shove. She followed, feeling somewhat shaken.

_There's no way this can get any worse._ Ellie regretted ever thinking that; the building shook suddenly, and someone started screaming from inside one of the rooms. Her eyes widened, and Joel quickly led her past the room where said screaming was coming from.

"What was that?" she asked, glancing at him as they started to run through the hideout, heading for the exit.

"Nothing," Joel took a deep breath, and then mumbled something under his breath.

"What did you say?" she had to shout now; the shaking was starting again, and loud noises were coming from where they had been.

"I think we just found whoever was ambushing this place!" Joel shouted back, making her somewhat confused.

_I thought I was the one who had ambushed them;_ she shook her head, focusing on helping Joel open the door that led outside.

Her thoughts flew to where the other hunters could be, but her question was answered when they got outside; dead bodies were flying everywhere, and the cause of the mess looked to be a US military tank.

Joel swore as he quickly led her up the hill and away from the military. Her mother's words from the letter came back to her, making her run faster.

Ellie turned around once they got to the other side of the river, looking back. Joel stopped, glancing back at her, and then at the hideout.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" she asked, and knew that her question confused him.

"Who? Troy?" She shook her head.

"No, there was someone that helped me rescue you. I'm wondering if he's alright."

Joel didn't say anything for a few moments. She glanced back at him, seeing the forlorn look in his eyes.

"I'm not sure, but I can't risk heading back there with you, especially if the people your mother warned about taking you are there."

She glanced back at the hideout and then at Joel, understanding what he meant.

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, "sometimes the price for freedom is too high."

She followed Joel towards their original route, away from the hideout, and into the sunset.

* * *

This chapter was a bit longer (and one of the main story points). The next chapter will explain a bit more about Sam and Ellie (and his willingness to help her). The chapters after that might be shorter, since they are "bonding time" moments between Joel and Ellie before they get to California. Please tell me any comments or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	35. Patching Things Up

Chapter 35: Patching Things Up

Ellie was starting to worry; Joel was badly injured, but he wouldn't stop to heal himself. She could tell that he had lost a lot of blood back at the hideout; the room had practically screamed that at her.

"Joel, I really think that you should take care of yourself," she tried to persuade him for the eighth time, getting a shake of the head for an answer.

"We need to get further away; they know how to track," his answer made her think he was being a bit paranoid.

"And you leaving a blood trail won't lead them to us?" she questioned, feeling somewhat out of place.

She wouldn't admit it to him, but she felt a slight rift in between them since they had gotten separated. Then again, maybe she was just being paranoid as well.

Joel stopped and sighed at her statement, staring at the sky. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a few moments before he spoke.

"Fine, we can stop here."

She sat down, feeling somewhat worn out. Joel sat down as well, but she was confused when he didn't start to bandage himself up; he just sat there, staring into the distance.

"Aren't you going to-?" she started to ask, but he shook his head.

"I will."

The silence between them stretched for a bit, and Ellie felt disappointed that they couldn't think of something to talk about.

"You should get some rest," Joel stated after a while. She lied down on the ground, facing away from him.

"And you should patch yourself up," she muttered, feeling slightly bitter and angry.

_If only those stupid hunters hadn't come along, then we wouldn't have this rift between us,_ she thought, closing her eyes as she felt sadness invade her dreams.

Ellie woke up a few hours later and saw Joel's sleeping form a few feet away from her. She relaxed and was about to head back to sleep, but stopped when she realized that she couldn't hear Joel breathing.

She scrambled over towards him, turning on her flashlight and aiming it on him, seeing that he hadn't patched up his wounds.

_He either forgot, or passed out,_ she felt panic run through him, not sure what to do.

"I guess I should try patching you up," she whispered, heading over to Joel's backpack.

She reached inside, grabbing the gauze and some cleaning alcohol from it. She crawled back over towards him, realizing that she would have to unbutton his shirt to actually get to the wounds. Her face lit up in embarrassment, and she took a deep breath.

_As long as I don't regret this later, and it's to help him, so he shouldn't get too mad._

She started to undo the buttons on his shirt, and soon her embarrassment turned to worry; his wounds looked infected.

"Better get started," she involuntarily shuddered, knowing the task ahead of her was not going to be pleasant.

First, she started by grabbing Joel's canteen and pouring water over the wounds. She then used a piece of gauze to put the alcohol on and hope they wouldn't get worse.

_I'm not a nurse after all, and I don't seem to have much experience in first aid._

A few times she thought Joel would wake up, but thankfully he didn't considering how awkward the moment would be if he had.

The last part was to wrap the wounds, which wasn't easy. Joel exactly wasn't the lightest thing she had ever tried to lift, and making sure that the gauze wouldn't rip while she slipped it underneath of him was hard enough. She briefly wondered if she should just drag a log over and slip in under him, but she then figured that the effort would be too much considering how badly he was injured.

_I don't want anything to reopen,_ she thought as she continued working.

By the time she was done, she felt exhausted from the effort. Joel seemed to be breathing better, and she hoped that she hadn't messed anything up.

"What exactly is there to mess up?" she wondered, but then shook her head, "the worst thing that could happen is that the wounds would get worse."

She didn't want to think of anything beyond that; what her mind could come up with sometimes was scary.

Ellie thought about going back to sleep, and she certainly felt like she could, but she figured that while Joel was out of commission that she would have to keep watch.

_Now I know how Joel felt._

The night ahead was going to be a long one.

Ellie realized she must have dozed off sometime in the night; she woke up to someone shaking her shoulder. Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times, seeing Joel with a puzzled look on his face.

"What?" she asked, yawning as she glanced around. The sky was already bright, making it somewhat hard for her eyes to adjust.

"We both slept in," he stated as she stood up, grabbing her backpack. She glanced over to see Joel close his, and she realized that she had forgotten to close it the night before.

They continued walking shortly after, and Ellie started to notice that dry strands of grass were sticking out of some cracks in the ground; more multiplied the further they went.

She bent down to observe one, finding it slightly interesting. A look from Joel stopped her exploration though.

Joel continued to look like he wanted to say something, but he couldn't quite get it out. She had to keep herself from laughing a few times at his expression. He glanced back at her, seeing her trying to hold in her laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, making her giggle a bit.

"Your face," she started and then proceeded to do her best 'Joel' impression, "'Extensive blood loss can make you say things you normally wouldn't say.'"

Joel caught on to what she was saying, and then he gave her a confused look.

"I haven't done that."

"Not yet anyways," she smiled at him, and he shook his head, an amused look on his face.

"Anyway, uh thanks," Joel's comment came out awkward, and she froze for a moment, not sure how to react.

"Uh you're welcome," she felt somewhat awkward, never really having anyone act like that towards her.

The day continued as they traveled and by the time they stopped in the evening, she felt that the rift between them had almost disappeared completely. What surprised her the most was that Joel actually made a fire.

She sat down beside him, turning the pistol over in her hands as she examined it. The weapon had become somewhat special to her since Joel had given it to her to use back in Pittsburgh.

Her eyes scanned the bottom of the gun, seeing something engraved in the covering. It took a moment, but she realized the letter 'D' was carved into the gun.

She glanced at Joel, wondering briefly if his middle name started with a 'D'. Her mind went through all of the pairings she could think of, but she didn't think any one of them fit.

"Why does it have a 'D' on the bottom?" she asked, passing Joel the pistol as he stared at the bottom of the pistol. A somewhat sad expression came onto his face.

"It's an initial," he stated, making her tilt her head.

"Yours?"

"No," he shook his head, "Someone else's."

Joel didn't say anything more, and Ellie didn't prod, knowing that he would tell her in time.

_That person must have been special for him to carve the initial into the gun,_ her thought made her glance over at him.

"Is the initial for Unknown Friend #1?" her question made an amused look come onto his face.

"No. Not even close."

"Alright, I had to try," she shrugged, watching as Joel stamped out the fire so that no one would be able to find them in the night.

She got up and moved a few feet away from where the fire had been, not wanting to breathe in ashes in her sleep. She lied down on the ground, but sat up when she realized Joel wasn't lying down.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" she questioned, and his gaze turned towards her.

"No, not yet." His answer made her confused.

"How come?"

"You took watch last night, now it's my turn."

She sighed, knowing that she couldn't convince him otherwise. She had a thought, giving herself only a moment to think before she decided on an answer.

She stood up, grabbed her backpack and going to sit beside Joel. He gave her a questioning glance as she looked at him.

"I thought you were going to sleep?"

"I'm not that tired," her answer made him smile, and she knew that the next thing he would say would be somewhat teasing.

"You certainly fell asleep last night though, and then slept in."

"You did too!"

Her retort made them both laugh a moment later. She sighed, feeling somewhat content. A question came into her head, and she glanced at him.

"What was that movie like?" she asked, thinking back to the poster they had seen in Pittsburgh months ago. Joel smiled, catching on to what she meant.

She spent the rest of the night listening to Joel talk about the movie; almost like something out of a fairytale.

* * *

This chapter was composed of little scenes (bonding moments), and I believe that the next one will be too (hopefully you like that sort of thing). The point of these chapters is to show how their bond essentially grows before they get to California (not sure if I said that in the last chapter's author's note; just want to be sure that I mentioned it). Either way, we have another mystery to solve (aside from who killed the guards back in Illinois). Who's initial is on the bottom of the pistol? Please tell me what you think in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	36. Birthday Surprises

**Legendary Swordsman:** Thanks for the reviews! The one question I can't go into much detail for, considering it is a spoiler for this fanfiction, but something like what you described happens later on (to a degree). Haha, and yeah, she was thinking about asking that if Joel would have wanted to go to sleep. :)

* * *

Chapter 36: Birthday Surprises

Ellie hadn't been planning on telling anyone; it was just another day, only significant in telling that a full year had passed since the last time. She didn't plan on doing anything except continuing their journey towards California; they were somewhere near the border by now.

She also hadn't planned for what Joel had to say as soon as they started traveling at the start of the day.

She had noticed that he had something on his mind since he had gotten up; he kept glancing back at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. He sighed in frustration after a while of the repeated pattern.

"What's wrong?" she asked, increasing her pace so that she could walk beside him. He glanced over at her.

"I haven't said this in a while, and tell me if I'm saying it wrong but-" Joel paused for a moment, still thinking, "Happy Birthday."

She froze at his words, her mouth slightly open as she stopped walking. He stopped as well, looking back at her with a confused expression.

"What, did I say it wrong?" she didn't answer his question and only continued staring at him.

Her mind was strangely numb but overwhelmed.

_How does he know?_

She blinked a few times, trying to get over her shock as she walked up to him. Her thoughts weren't in order, and she started to feel slightly mad at him.

"Were you stalking me back at the quarantine zone or something?" she asked, and he gave her a puzzled look.

"Why would I have been stalking you?"

"Because no one else knows my birthday except me."

They were both quiet for a bit after that; Joel had resumed walking and she was following behind him. The landscape around them was slowly starting to turn green, which was a relief that she would soon have more than just sand to stare at.

"How did you know it was my birthday?" she asked, feeling like the silence had gone on forever.

Joel stopped walking and turned around to stare at her, almost in disbelief. She was confused; he was acting as if she should know the answer. Something was ringing at the back of her mind, but she couldn't remember what it was.

He seemed to recognize her problem; he walked around and opened her backpack, pulling something out. Surprise ran through her when she realized it was the letter her mother had written her. Joel opened the envelope, scanning through the letter. He showed her it and pointed to a specific section, which read:

_The night you were born, a friend of your father's was there; the only man I felt I could trust after your father died. His name was Joel._

Ellie bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She didn't know what she felt, either anger at herself for being so stupid as to forget the section or embarrassment at her mistake. She started to laugh a bit, getting a questioning glance from Joel.

"Is this what older people meant when they said 'the older you get, the more you lose your memory'?"

She saw Joel's eyes widen, making her laugh even more. The expression on his face reminded her of back at the safe house.

"Maybe," Joel stated with a shake of his head, an amused look on his face.

They continued walking again, and Ellie glanced around her, taking in a deep breath and smelling the spring air.

"Do you know what a birthday party is?" Joel's question came out of nowhere, and the foreign word made her shake her head.

"Birthday party?" she repeated, a confused look on her face. She knew it had something to do with birthdays, but what was the point of it?

"Birthday parties are celebrations that people used to have before the pandemic. Parents of the birthday kid would invite friends and family over, and they would celebrate."

She nodded at his explanation, forming an image in her head. She still felt slightly confused.

"What's the point of that?" she questioned, and he stared back at her for a moment.

"It was just for fun, I guess; something to celebrate the kid growing older. The parties changed as the kid would get older."

"How so?"

"People would bring gifts to the party, so as the kid grew older, their idea of gifts changed as well. Some birthdays were bigger deals than others; when the kid turned ten, sixteen, and eighteen were big deals, at least that's from what I remember."

Joel paused in his explanation, giving her time to think.

_If I'm fifteen now, and Joel said that sixteen is a big deal, then that means I have one year to go,_ she started smiling, but then stopped, _but a year for what? I don't think I'm going to have a birthday party._

She suddenly came up with an idea and jogged to catch up to him. She waited for a bit, seeing that he was thinking of something. She couldn't contain her smile, and Joel glanced over at her with a slightly amused expression on his face.

"What is it?" his question made her smile even more. She leaned forward a bit to stop him, staring at him for a moment before answering.

"Do you think I could have a birthday party?"

The childish question made her blush a bit, and she cast her gaze towards the ground. Joel didn't say anything for a moment, and she guessed he was getting over the shock of her question.

"Out here?" he asked, and she nodded, feeling somewhat embarrassed, "What about inviting people."

"I have all the friends and family that I need out here," she answer, glancing about her to see that it seemed like Joel was the only other living thing in a three mile radius.

Both of them were quiet for a moment as she glanced around her, finding nothing else living around them. She smiled at Joel.

"Well, I have all the family I need. Who needs friends?" Joel laughed at her question, shaking his head.

He continued walking and she stood back for a moment, running forwards as she slipped her hand through his. Joel seemed to freeze at the sudden movement, but he relaxed a moment later. She smiled at him as they continued walking, knowing that even if she did have to leave Joel and head with the Fireflies; at least they had this moment.

* * *

Another short chapter, but this one was full of fluff (at least I think so). I could just imagine Joel trying to explain to Ellie about birthday parties, considering I would believe that no one had one in the boarding schools. I am hoping to finish the "journey" part of this fanfiction in the next few days (and then on to the main conflict or other part of the story). Please tell me what you thought and any ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	37. Unknown Friend 1 Is

**Legendary Swordsman:** Haha, there is actually something later in this fanfiction pertaining to Ellie wanting to celebrate Joel's birthday, but she doesn't know when it is. :)

* * *

Chapter 37: Unknown Friend #1 Is…

_"Why are you so willing to help me?" Ellie asked, glancing over at Sam as they walked, "You just met me, and now you're helping me rescue Joel."_

_ Sam gave a short laugh at her questioning, reminding her somewhat of a more open Joel._

_ "It's not every day that you see someone wanting to help a friend," he answered, "Most people turned on each other during the first days of the infection."_

_ Her interest instantly perked; Sam was definitely a lot more open to sharing than Joel was._

_ "What was it like?" she questioned, feeling curious. It wasn't every day either that she got to hear about what it was like before the pandemic; Joel had opened up some, but she knew that the memories had caused him pain._

_ Sam looked like he was thinking; he didn't answer for a moment._

_ "Well, there were lots of riots. People demanded to know what was going on behind their backs. The police were called in to handle things, but shortly after, everything fell apart. Neighbors and friends started turning on each other, and then there was the Infected…"_

_ She listened to him continue on about what the first few months had been like for him, ever mindful of the hideout becoming closer in the distance._

"Is something wrong?" Joel's voice brought her out of the memory, and she shook her head, clearing her mind of it.

"No, just remembering something," her answer made Joel nod.

They were now in California, searching for the Fireflies. What she had never thought of in the beginning was that how hard it would be for them to find the rebel group.

A thought came into her mind, and she hesitantly glanced over at Joel, wondering if she should ask the question. She waited for a few moments, deciding that the worst that could happen was that Joel wouldn't answer her.

"Hey Joel," he glanced at her and she continued, "If you don't mind me asking, who was Unknown Friend #1?"

Joel's gaze grew thoughtful; he stopped walking and stood still, his gaze staring at something past her.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you," he mused, then met her gaze, "Unknown Friend #1 was the person who asked me to bring you to the Fireflies in the first place. Her name was Rosanne."

"Rosanne," she repeated and then tilted her head, "How did you know her? Did she have the same occupation as you?"

Joel shook his head, a somewhat bitter laugh coming from him a moment later.

"No, she didn't have the same job. I knew her from back in Ohio; she used to live in the same neighborhood as me. I was friends with her husband and her when we were growing up."

"Oh," she stated, not sure what else to say. Something was bothering her at the back of her mind; Joel seemed to notice this.

"Anything else you would like to ask?"

"Yeah," she answered with a nod, but then felt somewhat hesitant, "Who was Rosanne?"

Joel took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. Ellie wondered if she had asked the wrong question. She opened her mouth to say something, but Joel beat her to it.

"Rosanne was your mom," he stated, making any hope of something coming out of her mouth fade.

She stared at him, her mouth slightly open, not knowing what to say. Joel didn't say anything; he was obviously giving her time to process what he had just told her.

"My mom was the person who asked you to bring me to the Fireflies?" she asked after a while, and Joel nodded.

She felt a wave of emotions run over her: confusion, sadness, anger, and emptiness.

"She was alive that whole time?" she whispered, then glancing at Joel, "Even that day when I started traveling with you?"

Joel was quiet for a moment; he took a deep breath before answering.

"Yes, she was alive then," he answered, making her somewhat angry.

"Why didn't she come with us?" she asked, trying to keep from yelling at him.

_He knew this whole time where she was, that she was fine;_ Ellie kept trying to reference back to the letter, kept trying to keep herself calm, _so I don't blow up at him_.

"She knew I could get you out of the quarantine zone," Joel answered, and she could tell something was distressing him. One look into his eyes, and she knew the answer.

"She was infected, wasn't she?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper now, trying to keep back the flood of emotions running through her. Joel's gaze cut to the ground, answering her question. She bit her lip, refusing to cry.

_I didn't know my parents, so why should I care?_ The question nagged at her mind, and she shook her head.

"Let's keep moving," Joel suggested after a while, and she nodded. She trailed behind him, a flood of questions spinning around in her mind.

She waited an hour, taking deep breaths periodically. Feeling somewhat better after a while, she decided to voice some of her questions.

"What did my mom look like?" she asked, trying to get a mental image.

Joel glanced back at her and stopped walking. He stared at her for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. His gaze wandered to a small puddle of water nearby and he pulled her over to it.

Ellie felt confusion run through her; what did Joel want with the water? Her question was answered when she felt his hand reach around her ponytail and tug the hairband out, making her reach back to try and grab it.

"Joel, give it back!" she exclaimed, trying to reach it from his hand. Joel was now holding it out of reach, making her somewhat mad. She glared at him, wondering why he had taken her ponytail down.

"Calm down for a moment. Look in the water," he pointed at the puddle, and she obeyed, seeing her reflection.

Her hair was down, with her bangs blending into the rest of her brown hair slightly; the only way she could tell where they were was because of their slightly shorter length.

"I don't get it," she kept glancing between Joel and her reflection, noticing a moment later that he looked like he was trying not to laugh, making her confusion increase even further.

"What are you laughing at?"

Her question made him smile a bit and an amused expression came onto his face.

"It's somewhat creepy but you look nearly exactly like your mom."

"I do?"

"Yeah, except for maybe a few facial differences and your bang length is a bit longer."

She glanced back at her reflection again, trying to imagine what Joel was describing. She shook her head, deciding that it wasn't working.

_I only see myself._

Joel gave her back the hairband and she retied her ponytail, smiling a bit when she looked more like herself.

"That's better," she whispered, looking up at Joel. He shook his head, a smile on his face as well.

"Come on. We'd better get going," Joel waved his hand forward, and she gladly followed right behind him.

* * *

Another short chapter, although this one had important information in it. Unknown Friend #1 (or the person who asked Joel to bring Ellie to the Fireflies) is her mother. I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen in the game, but I will explain more in later chapters. The next chapter enters the Fireflies (including some of the names that you guys sent in :) )! Tell me any thoughts you have in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	38. All We've Been Through

**Guest:** Thanks! I'm glad you like it! Can't wait for the game! :)

* * *

Chapter 38: All We've Been Through; Everything I've Done

"Ellie, drop the pistol," Joel whispered urgently as she pointed it at the hostile looking group on the barrier in front of them. She glanced over at him, seeing he had his hands up in the air. He motioned for her to do the same.

She bent down and put the pistol in front of her, standing up and copying Joel. Two of the people came down from the barrier, flanking them on both sides.

Her gaze wandered to Joel, and she felt someone roughly shove her to the ground, pointing a gun at her back. A glance at Joel confirmed that the same was happening to him.

The heavy rain made it somewhat hard to see as the two other members of the group on the wall approached them, and Ellie didn't miss the crossbow looking weapons with them.

"Don't resist; it won't get you anywhere helpful," a man's voice came from the person behind Joel, and she briefly wondered if he was trying to find a way out of the situation. So far, it seemed futile.

"What are you doing here?" a female's voice came from one of the figures in front of them, "It's not often that we see small groups traveling together."

She glanced at Joel, figuring she would let him do the talking. He didn't say anything, prompting the person behind him to hit Joel's back harshly with the gun. She gasped when he fell forward a bit, moving slightly to try and help him.

She glared at the figures around them, but stopped when her vision started to swirl a bit.

_Why do they look so familiar?_ Her head started hurting and she had to close her eyes, _Not them, but what their wearing._

A series of images floated through her head; people with the same uniform, but something distinguished them from the rest of the population. On the left front of the uniform was a symbol.

Her eyes opened in shock as she recognized it.

"Fireflies," she mumbled, looking up at the people again and seeing the symbol that had sometimes been painted onto the quarantine zone's walls. Joel glanced over at her, looking slightly confused.

"Fireflies?" he repeated, his gaze traveling towards the ground as he thought.

"You're the Fireflies?" she asked the female, who she presumed to be the leader.

The leader looked a bit shocked for a moment, and she came close to Ellie's face, inspecting her. The woman's gaze relaxed a bit and she waved towards the two people behind them.

As soon as Ellie felt them back off, she grabbed the pistol off the ground and pointed it at them, backing up towards Joel's direction. She ran into him, and he grabbed the pistol out of her hand, putting it in her backpack. Confusion ran through her for a moment, but then she remembered that these were the people they had been looking for.

"We've been looking for you," Joel stated, and she decided to keep her mouth shut so they wouldn't get in any more trouble.

The woman nodded, motioning for them to come inside the barrier. Ellie felt a bit hesitant, but she followed Joel inside.

She saw that the area had tents; most of them were small, but they were led into a medium sized one. The tent had a few chairs inside, and they were situated into two of them.

She glanced at the woman as she sat down, realizing that the other three that had been a part of the group were men.

_That must be awkward,_ she thought, thinking that it would have been weird if there were two more of Joel.

"Sorry for the misunderstandings; the rain makes it hard to identify anything out here," the woman started and Ellie glanced over to see Joel nod. She felt slightly uncomfortable and shifted in her chair a bit.

"I was supposed to bring her here," Joel explained, glancing towards her. She nodded, not sure of what to say.

The woman got up and walked over to a small table in the corner of a room, picking up something that looked like a letter and scanning through it.

Ellie sat in silence beside Joel, wishing that she didn't feel so awkward. Her gaze wandered to the three other occupants of the room. They were dressed in the same uniforms, but looked slightly different. Before she could memorize what they looked like, the woman spoke again.

"Joel and Ellie, right?" she questioned, making Ellie's eyes widen a bit. She glanced over at Joel, seeing he was remaining calm, although her guessed that he hadn't expected that either.

"We got a letter around a year ago from one of our other members that you were heading our way," one of the other men in the room explained.

She looked his way, seeing that he had short dirty blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and a bit of a beard.

"Good thing the rookie sent the letter too; we would have been near Florida by now if not," another man, this one with coal black hair and brown eyes, other man looked at him for a moment, and Ellie was silently thanking whoever had sent the letter to this group.

She suddenly had a thought as she glanced around at the group.

"Wait, where are the other Fireflies?" she questioned, motioning to the four around the room. They shared a glance, and the woman answered her.  
"The others are finding a way back to our main operations; we decided to stay in California and wait for you two to arrive."

She nodded, staring at the floor for a bit. The uncomfortable silence was unnerving for her, and she kind of wished that someone would say something. As if guessing her thoughts, the woman started to introduce everyone.

"My name is Tia. Over there is Baker, JC, and Markus," she stated, pointing towards the man with blonde hair (Baker), the man with longer coal black hair (JC), and a man with shoulder length auburn hair (Markus).

Ellie didn't know what to do; she figured that the introductions were directed towards her instead of Joel, considering he was probably going to leave soon. She knew their time together was quickly running out.

Her gaze fell to the floor as Joel and Tia started to talk. She tuned them out, feeling somewhat depressed. She didn't want Joel to leave. Her idea came back to her: What if she refused to stay with the Fireflies? She shook her head, knowing that Joel would most likely force her to if it came to that.

"We should probably get you two situated for tonight," Tia's comment made her pay more attention; she glanced up to see Joel nod. Relief ran through her, and she knew that Joel wouldn't leave in weather like this.

_Please let there be some kind of horrible storm tomorrow,_ she silently pleaded as she followed the group behind Joel outside of the tent and towards a smaller one.

"Sorry we don't have more room; it was hard enough to get this to stay with us."

She knew what that meant; her and Joel would be sharing a tent. She guessed that it wasn't that different than the nights they had traveling together; only difference was that they would have shelter.

She followed Joel into the tent, leaning her backpack against the side of the tent and lying down. She heard Joel do the same thing, and then felt his presence as she pressed her back against his. She smiled when she heard him asleep, closing her eyes in contentment.

* * *

Joel was careful to not wake Ellie up when he woke. He got up and grabbed his backpack, taking one last time to look at her sleeping. He tore his eyes away, walking out of the tent.

Tia and the other Fireflies were already moving silently around the camp when he got outside, and he realized that the sun was just starting to rise.

_I slept in,_ he thought, and then glanced back at the tent,_ and thankfully so did Ellie._

He didn't want to make this any harder for either of them; Joel figured that it would be best if he was gone by the time she woke up, so that neither of them could have second thoughts. He had to get back home. Joel chuckled, feeling a bit bitter about the word.

_Home. Where exactly is that anymore?_ He shook his head, figuring he might as well get started since he had a long trip back. He started walking, but was stopped by a voice.

"Hey. You're leaving so soon?" He turned around to see Tia, her shoulder length brown hair pulled slightly back by a black headband. He gave her a quick nod, not wanting Ellie to wake up from the commotion. Tia seemed to sense this.

"Yeah, I have a long trip back home," again the word brought some sadness, and he started to walk away when neither of them said anything.

He stopped once again when she started speaking, this time only looking over his shoulder.

"We'll take good care of her," Tia answered, and then playfully added, "We know you care."

"Thanks," he replied, setting out on foot back towards Boston.

_It's better this way,_ he thought, knowing he was only trying to convince himself.

* * *

A small ray of light peeking into the tent woke Ellie up, and she realized she felt strangely cold. She yawned as she sat up, glancing over to see if Joel was already awake. He was absent, but something was different.

_Where's his backpack?_ She glanced around the tent, feeling somewhat worried, _he probably just took it with him. It is routine by now._

She stood up, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder as she exited the tent. She glanced around, not seeing anyone except Tia.

_Joel must be out hunting with everyone else._

The thought was meant to bring her comfort, but Tia's smile as she approached didn't make her feel any more at home.

"Ready to get going soon?" Tia asked, and she nodded, taking a look around the camp again. It seemed like they were packing up.

"Do you know where Joel went?" she asked, feeling worry when she noticed the three other Fireflies were taking down the tents, but Joel was strangely absent.

"He left about three minutes ago. Said he had a long way before he got home," Tia answered, and fear ran through her. She turned around, not seeing his form in the distance.

"Which way did he go?" she asked, not sure where he had went. Tia looked at her for a moment in slight confusion before she pointed towards the barrier's entrance where they had come from the night before.

_That makes sense,_ she thought as she started to run off in that direction, but stopped and yelled back at Tia,

"I'll be right back!"

Of course, she didn't know if she could make a promise about her words, but she would at least try.

Fear and desperation made its way through her as she ran, seeing a figure up in the distance. Even though his back was turned to her, she already knew it was Joel.

"Hey! Wait!" she shouted after him, and he came to a shock, some surprise on his face.

She caught up to him and hunched over, trying to catch her breath. She stood up when she felt like she could speak, meeting his gaze.

"You're just going to leave without saying goodbye?" she asked, feeling some sadness course through her. Joel sighed; his gaze traveling to the ground.

"Ellie, I need to get back to Boston," he stated what she already knew, making her somewhat desperate.

"You don't have to go," she frowned slightly, "You could travel with us for a while."

Joel shook his head, making disappointment enter her.

"You know I can't do that. I have to get back to a normal routine."

"Isn't what we've been doing for the past year a normal routine by now?" she asked, feeling somewhat bitter towards him. Joel was silent for a moment.

"Of course it's a routine, it's just that you knew that we would have to separate from the beginning," Joel's words sounded harsh to her.

"I knew, I just didn't know that it would be so hard," she mumbled, wanting him to know that he was like family to her. She couldn't say it out loud, but she figured that he would be able to tell through her words.

His gaze met hers, and she felt her vision start to blur when she realized he wasn't going to budge on his decision.

"After all we've been through; everything that I've done," she stated with a shake of her head, staring at him, "It can't be for nothing."

Joel stared at her for a moment, and then his gaze left hers.

"Ellie-" he started, taking a deep breath, "Take care of yourself, alright?"

Her heart stopped as she stared at him, and an outward sense of calm came over her. She nodded, meeting his gaze again.

"Alright," she answered, turning around with one last look, "Bye Joel."

He nodded, setting out again towards Boston. She walked up the hill and back towards the camp, looking back one last time as his shadow blurred with her tears.

* * *

This chapter was emotional for me to write (I actually cried), but I believe it was well done. This chapter is by no means the last one, and next chapter is in Joel's POV. What do you think will happen?

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	39. Second Thoughts

**LittleSlytherin394:** Yes, Tia is going to be mentioned in this fanfiction a lot! :) Sorry the chapter made you sad. Joel kind of thought that it would be easier for the two of them if he left first, considering he really isn't the best at goodbyes. And Haha, I most likely would have wanted to do that as well (it just might not have helped Ellie to convince him to stay after she would punch him)! :)

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Thanks! I try the best I can to make it as realistic as possible! Here's the next chapter! :)

* * *

Chapter 39: Second Thoughts

Joel sighed, wishing that Ellie wouldn't have come to say goodbye. She had seemed upset, and had every right to, but he figured that she would be safer with someone who would be able to protect her better.

_Especially from the military,_ his thoughts flew back to the letter, and he sighed again, _Rosanne, what have I done? You told her that she could trust me, but I just let her go like that?_

His thoughts made him glance back up at the hill, seeing that the Fireflies were getting ready to move on. Ellie was standing near Tia, but he couldn't see her reaction. It bothered him somewhat, but he tore his gaze away, knowing that this was better for both of them.

_Is it?_ The thought rang through his head, making him somewhat question his motives.

His gaze traveled back up to the small group, and he thought about what Ellie had said. She had looked as if her heart was breaking…

_Don't think about that,_ he frowned, starting to walk back up towards the group.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to stay away from Boston a bit longer," he mumbled, entering through the barrier again.

The Fireflies must have heard him coming; Tia turned around with a gun pointed at him. When she recognized him, an amused look spread across her face.

"Back already?" she questioned, putting the gun back in its holster, "You sure your home was that far away?"

"No, but I was wondering if you need help finding a way back to your main group," he answered, seeing Ellie start to smile. He glanced over at her and gave her a quick smile as an answer.

"We have a way back; we just need to get it repaired," Tia answered, but she saw the smile on Ellie's face as well, "We could use some help with that."

"I'm not a mechanic, but I'll do the best I can," he walked up to them and fell in step beside Ellie. She stood back a bit, watching the other Fireflies walk ahead of them for a moment. He stopped, wondering why she wasn't coming.

"Everything alright?" he asked, and she glanced at the ground, an almost embarrassed look on her face. He was briefly confused, but stopped when he saw Ellie run forward, giving him a quick hug.

"I knew you wouldn't forget about me," she whispered, happiness on her face. He gave her a smile.

"How could I forget you? We only were apart for one minute," she laughed at his comment, and the two of them ran to catch up to the Fireflies, traveling together again.

* * *

So Joel decided that he didn't want to leave Ellie yet, and now they are both traveling to the Fireflies! Sorry this was such a short chapter, but I have some startling information in the next chapter that would have made the moment a bit spoiled for the story, so I just decided to end it here. Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	40. All for a Purpose

**Legendary Swordsman:** Sorry that California isn't mentioned more in this fanfiction, although it was a very important part of the plot. And yeah, I actually have a few things planned to start after this fanfiction is over, but I'll reveal more about that later (considering it might be spoilers for certain parts of this fanfiction).

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Thanks! :)

* * *

Chapter 40: All for a Purpose

Ellie barely left Joel's side anymore, afraid that he would decide to quit "helping", as he called it, and continue heading back to Boston.

Tia said that they were somewhere in the lower regions of Nevada, which gave her the thought that Joel might be somewhat disappointed since he was the one who usually announced where they were. He didn't give any sign of it though if he was.

They had started to talk more to the other Fireflies, but Ellie didn't know much about them. It was pretty obvious that Tia was the leader of the small group, and she somewhat reminded her of Tess. JC and Baker were a bit more closed off, sort of like Joel, and Markus seemed to be the most open about talking.

She glanced back at Joel, increasing her speed a bit.

"I'll be right back," she stated, jogging to catch up to Markus, hearing Joel chuckle a bit behind her. A question had popped into her mind again, and she was sure Joel couldn't answer it.

"Hey Markus," she asked, continuing when said person looked at her, "Do you know much about JC and Baker?"

Markus had an amused look on his face as he glanced up ahead to where JC and Baker were talking.

"Not much. They joined about a year ago, roughly around the same time. They seem kind of close, but they don't talk much about the past," he answered, and another question came into her head.

"Do you even know if those are their real names?" she asked, trying to think of what their names could be.

JC seemed like initials, sort of like the 'D' on the bottom of the pistol, but she couldn't really think of anything. Baker seemed more like a nickname to her, but it might be a reference to his real name.

"No, it's possible that those are just their codenames," Markus's answer confused her even more.

"Codenames?" Markus looked over at her and nodded.

"Yeah, when the Fireflies were first starting out, we all got codenames so that if anyone ever decided to go to the government, then no one knew our real names. We used to be able to see each other in public, and might not even recognize that we knew the other."

"So, it's sort of like you wore disguises?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Something like that."

Ellie nodded, decreasing her pace so that she was back to walking beside Joel. She wondered if he got tired of her doing that, but she figured it was routine by now.

Joel didn't acknowledge her presence, and he looked to be deep in thought. She stared at him for a full minute before speaking.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, giving him a smile. He shook his head, a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Where exactly are we traveling to? I don't think anyone's ever explained that."

Ellie had to admit that Joel had a good point; no one ever did explain where the main group was. She bit her lip, fiddling with her ponytail for a moment before deciding on what she had to do.

"I'll go ask," she jogged up to where Tia was leading, figuring that she would be the most willing to tell.

"Tia, if you don't mind me asking, where is the main group located at?"

Her question made Tia glance at her, and Ellie thought that it seemed as if the older woman was deciding on whether or not to tell her.

_So much for willingness,_ her thought was interrupted by Tia's voice however.

"Our main base is located right under the military's nose, underneath of Boston," Ellie's eyes widened and she felt Joel increase his pace so that he was beside her, "That's why we need to meet up with the other group. They're working on something that can get us back to Boston in a short period of time."

The news sounded great; heading back to Boston in less than a year meant less walking, but as hers and Joel's gazes met, she felt like laughing. Tia observed their silent exchange.

"What's so interesting about this?" she asked, and Joel had to answer because she was going to burst out laughing any moment.

"We just came from Boston," Joel stated, and she started smiling as she kept back her laughter, "That's where my 'home' is essentially."

Tia's eyes seemed to widen for a moment before she gave them an amused look.

"Good thing you came along with us then," she stated, increasing her pace.

Ellie, meanwhile, was laughing at the irony of the situation. They had started out in Boston, but the Fireflies had been right underneath of them the whole time. Joel shook his head with an amused expression on his face.

"I can't believe it," he muttered, "This trip would have been so much easier…"

"Yeah, but we also wouldn't be this friendly towards each other if we would have just looked underneath Boston," she answered, and he nodded, understanding where she was going, "'Everything for a reason', right?"

He chuckled at her statement, and she glanced up to see that they had stopped walking. Tia walked back towards them, pointing at something in the distance that made Ellie's eyes widen in awe.

"That is what we're going to take back to Boston," Tia explained, pointing at a clearing filled with a larger group of Fireflies. It wasn't the Fireflies that interested her; it was what they were working on.

"That's a big plane," she muttered, seeing Joel had a similar reaction.

"We do have a lot of people though," Tia explained, "Good thing it took you a year to get here; we're just getting done with the repairs."

Tia then went on to explain how they had found the abandoned plane around a year ago, deciding that if they could fix it up it might be useful to the Fireflies. Ellie had never seen a plane in real life before, only the pictures in books gave her an idea of what one looked like.

"We basically just need to stock up on supplies; food mostly," Tia explained, and both Joel and her got the same meaning.

"We're going to start pulling our weight, huh?" she asked, smiling over at Joel. It seemed somewhat fair, and she somewhat felt happy to be needed again.

"Yep," Tia answered, nodding her head. She then pointed to the trees behind them, "Animals usually stay in there. Sometimes we've been able to find berries; it should be late enough in the year for those."

Ellie nodded, glancing at Joel. He seemed to be making a map of the place.

"We'd better get going then," he said with a nod, starting to walk off. Ellie followed behind him, figuring that Tia and the others were going to help the bigger group with the final plane preparations.

She waited until they got into the cover of the trees to start talking.

"If they're able to get the plane running, how long should it take us to get to Boston?"

Joel thought for a moment, doing the math in his head. Ellie tried to as well, but she couldn't come up with an answer.

"Around five or six hours would be my guess," he answered, prompting her to nod.

"Definitely shorter than a year," her comment made them both laugh. She looked over at him, feeling happy for once.

"We might get this done quicker if we split up," Joel glanced at her, wariness in his eyes.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" She gave him a smile.

"Of course. I'll use this. We can just pile it somewhere near the plane once we find something." She motioned to her bow and arrows that Sam gave her, feeling somewhat excited and then again sad.

_I hope he's alright._

She shook her head, splitting off onto a different area than Joel.

By the end of the day, both her and Joel had been able to catch a significant amount of food (animals and other edibles). Ellie smiled as she looked at their pile, which was now being loaded into the plane. They would leave in a few days' time.

"I'm going to head back out," she told Joel later that day. The sun was going to set soon, but she figured if she could find anything else that would help, it would be better.

"You want me to come?" She shook her head.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to see if I can find anything else." She waved at him as she walked back into the woods, taking out her bow and arrow.

_It'll be better if I don't scare everything off,_ she thought, knowing that she still had her pistol and rifle if need be,_ and my switchblade._

Ellie crouched down, listening to the sounds around her. The ground in front of her was somewhat moist from the recent rain, and a hoof print seemed to be imprinted into the wet mud.

She looked in the direction it went off to, silently moving along the tree line until she saw the small buck. Careful not to make any sudden movements, she silently took out her bow and notched an arrow, aiming at the deer.

The twang of the arrow, as well as the deer falling to the ground, made her smile. She jogged down towards it, wondering how she was going to get it back to camp.

_Maybe I should have asked Joel to come with me,_ she thought, bending down to see if there was any way she could lift the deer.

Her eyes settled on something a few feet away, slumped against a tree trunk. She pulled out her pistol out of instinct, walking over to the long-dead figure.

_What's an Infected doing out here?_ She wondered, but then shook her head, knowing that the Infected adapted and spread to different areas overtime. She tilted her head slightly confused as she bent down to examine it.

Mushroom-like growths were protruding from the Infected's body, and its skeletal structure looked brittle. Something seemed familiar about the sight.

_Back in New York, when we were traveling with Tess, we came across something like this._

Her curiosity peeked even more when she saw the mushroom-like growths move slightly, releasing yellow flecks into the air. She backed away for a moment, watching as the flecks continued to multiply, reflecting off the light of the setting sun as they spread around her.

Something felt familiar as she took a deep breath; almost as if she had felt the flecks before. Her body started to feel numb, and she felt herself go into a trance-like state.

* * *

After ten minutes, Joel had decided that Ellie had been gone for too long. Sure, it was only ten minutes, but he still felt worry creeping through him as each second passed.

"I'm going to see if she needs any help," he stated, starting to walk into the trees. He heard Tia laugh a bit behind him, but he wanted to make sure that Ellie was alright.

His gaze scanned the woods, looking for any sign that could tell him where Ellie went. His eyes fell on a footprint in the mud, not very far behind some deer tracks. He started to follow them, but stopped, something ringing in his mind.

_She's going to be mad when she finds out I'm following her, but it's better than letting her get hurt and dealing with it later,_ his thought made his feet move faster.

The tracks led him to a hill, and a jagged line that ran down through the mud led him to a deer.

_Great, now where's Ellie?_

He spotted her on the other edge of the clearing. It looked like she was staring at something.

"Ellie?" he called out, wondering why she had left the deer lying in the mud. Her head turned around to face him, dazed confusion in her eyes.

"Joel?" she questioned, making him glance at something that was rising behind her. His eyes widened when he saw the yellow flecks coming from something near her.

_Spores,_ his thought made him run forward, grabbing Ellie by the arm and pulling her away from the dead Infected.

"Go!" he shouted at her, giving her a push from behind to get her moving. She complied, glancing back at the Infected for one last time.

Joel heard a whizzing sound behind him, and a moment later the whole clearing was covered in spores. He took a breath and started coughing, running blindly behind Ellie as they tried to find a way out of the clearing.

They broke through the trees, the rest of the spores spreading outward in the clearing. He made Ellie continue a few more feet before they both started coughing. His lunges were burning, and he watched as Ellie threw up on the ground. She got up a moment later, taking deep breaths.

"You alright?" he asked between coughs. She nodded, still out of breath.

Joel took a deep breath, glancing around him and not recognizing any of the landmarks.

_Where are we?_ He wondered, looking around as he tried to find anything that could lead him back to the Fireflies. He saw nothing.

"I think we're lost," Ellie's voice made him look over at her. Her gaze dropped quickly to the ground, a guilty look on her face, "Sorry."

"It's alright; we just need to find our way back," he shook his head, figuring that they might as well start finding their way back to the small group.

* * *

Sorry that this chapter might be a bit confusing; more is going to be explained in the next chapter. Ellie and Joel are now separated from the small group of Fireflies, which isn't good considering they are supposed to be traveling with the small group back to Boston (ah, the irony considering they were in Boston in the first place). What do you think will happen next (as well as what you think the problem with the Infected was)?

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	41. Infected

Chapter 41: Infected

A lot of things had become more complicated as the days dragged on. His eyesight was one of the main ones, Joel had realized now as he helped Ellie set up camp for the night.

Setting down his backpack, Joel glanced over to blurrily see Ellie trying to make shelter out of some branches.

"Just leave it," he told her, continuing when she gave him a questioning glance; "we won't need it."

"We might," she stated but still placed the branches on the ground, coming to sit on a log beside him, "especially after last time."

Joel sighed, not sure what to make of Ellie's new 'fear' since the last attack.

_Too close_, Joel thought as he rubbed his eyes, hoping that he had simply gotten dust in them, but knowing that was not the case. The fungus was already taking its toll.

Ellie looked over at him, a question evidently coming on.

"Need to wash out your eyes?" she asked as she noticed him wiping his eyes, "there's a river nearby-"

"It's fine," he cut her off quickly, not wanting her to go wandering off again. That was what had gotten them in trouble in the first place.

Ellie sighed, staring out into the forest as the sun started to set.

"Wonder where the others are," she said, not looking at him, "How they are doing?"

"They are probably fine, knowing them," he answered, not really wanting her to worry. It had been about a week since they had last seen the small group of Fireflies.

Ellie looked over at him, frowning a bit. He could see that something was on her mind.

"What?" he asked after a bit when her frown had not disappeared.

"Something's up," she stated as she stared at him, "you're not yourself."

Joel sometimes hated how they had come to learn when something was wrong, especially now.

"I'm fine," he said after a while, "just a bit tired."

He looked out at the forest, wondering what her reaction would be. She didn't answer for a while, and the weight of her head leaning against his shoulder made him wonder if she was asleep.

"Getting old?" she asked; a teasing smile on her face. He cracked a smile at that, not expecting her answer.

"Something like that," he answered.

They sat like that for a while, watching as the sun set and clear into the night. Joel hadn't realized that Ellie had fallen asleep until he was going to mention something to her.

He stared down at her sleeping form and lowered her from his shoulder and onto the ground, placing a spare blanket over her. Thankfully, she didn't wake up.

Joel lied down on the ground and stared up at the sky, hoping that his fears weren't right.

How wrong he was when he woke the next morning to Ellie's tear-stained face.

* * *

Ellie woke up to light rising in the sky. She sat up and stretched, the blanket falling down in a puddle on her lap.

She didn't remember the last time that she was able to sleep without being disturbed in the night.

Quickly looking around her, Ellie wondered if any Infected would be nearby. She stood up quietly, grabbing the rifle that was leaning on a nearby log and started to scan the area. Not hearing any clicking noises or seeing anything in the distance, she relaxed.

Ellie didn't want to admit it, but she almost felt uneasy, now realizing the true horrors of the Infected from the last attack. Shuddering as the familiar yet scarring images flooded her head, Ellie walked back to their camp and sat down, waiting for Joel to get up.

It was rare to see him still asleep, since during all of the mornings Ellie had woken up on their journey to find the Fireflies, Joel had always been the first one up, long before Ellie ever thought of getting up at first.

Joel had started to explain to her that what they had seen, the spreading of the spores from the dead Infected she had found, might have eluded to the unknown stage, as well as one of the ways the fungus spread.

_It would make sense, considering it sort of looked like a mushroom._

She frowned slightly as she watched him sleeping.

_Something's wrong,_ she thought, but then an idea came to her.

"He's probably just tired, considering everything I've had to put him through," she whispered, feeling somewhat bad she had interrupted his daily routine so much, even though she had realized by now that they were making their own.

Not knowing what else to do, Ellie sat and watched Joel sleep, finding it somewhat awkward but calming. He seemed like a completely different person when he wasn't so guarded, although she had started to see more of a softer side of him during their journey.

Hearing leaves cracking behind her, Ellie stood up warily, grabbing the rifle from beside her.

Wondering if they had finally been found by more Infected, although rare so late in the morning, her heart involuntarily sped up in fear. Making sure the rifle had ammo as she walked toward the crunching sound, she then wondered if a Runner had found them, since there were no clicking sounds.

She quickly hid behind a tree for a moment and glanced back at camp, wondering if she should wake Joel.

_He's tired,_ she thought, _I'll wake him if the problem's big enough._

Taking a deep breath, Ellie turned out from behind the tree and aimed the rifle, but didn't fire for what she saw. Two deer, a half-grown fawn and a buck, were standing a few feet away from her; the buck standing in front of the fawn and staring at her warily.

Ellie relaxed and slung the gun back over her shoulder, staring at the strange pair while realizing that the buck was taking care of the fawn since no one else was.

"Go ahead," Ellie whispered as the two started to walk away, "it would be rude for me to take you away."

As Ellie walked back to camp, she learned two things; one: that she and Joel were as strange of a pair as the buck and fawn, and two: how much they had changed towards each other.

In the beginning of their journey, Joel would have probably reprimanded her for letting a meal get away, but now he would probably see what she did when she told him about what she had seen.

Sitting back down at camp, Ellie watched the sun rise higher, wondering if she should wake up Joel. He would probably be mad that he had slept for such a long time, but she didn't know whether she should wake him.

Ellie had realized over the past few days that Joel hadn't been acting like himself.

_Ever since the attack really,_ Ellie thought, wondering what could be wrong.

She glanced over at Joel when she heard him turn in his sleep. As she stared at him, something caught her attention; something seemed to be growing around his eyes.

Ellie leaned towards his face, wondering what could be wrong. The more she continued to stare at it, the more one word seemed to scream at her.

_Cordyceps,_ she thought. The word had become so familiar to her ever since Joel had explained to her more about what people thought was causing the virus.

Ellie's mind suddenly went blank, realizing what that meant.

"He's infected," she said out loud, not able to stop herself in her confusion as tears started to form in her eyes.

Joel seemed to hear her and peeked his eyes open, a confused but concerned look on his face.

"Ellie?" he questioned, sitting up. His eyes squinted for a moment, almost as if he was having a hard time seeing her.

"You're-" she started to say but couldn't finish, her throat choking her voice.

Concern flashed across his face again, clearer this time. Realizing what she was meaning, his face seemed to relax a bit more.

"Ellie, it's ok," he said calmly as tears started to fall from her eyes.

"No, it's not!" she argued, trying to stop herself from crying but failing, "you're infected!"

"I know," Joel stated as he nodded once, making anger flood her.

"And you didn't tell me?" she asked, feeling anger mix with her sadness.

"Ellie, there was nothing you could have done-" Joel had started to say softly, but she cut him off, shaking her head.

"I could have not wandered off, not seen that clicker, and not gotten you infected, and…" her voice trailed off, making her throat choke with sadness.

One fact was clear to her: Joel was infected because of her.

"Ellie-" Joel started, but was cut off again.

"No," she cut him off, shaking her head again, "I had gathered enough, I didn't need to get any more, but I thought that if I did…"

Ellie couldn't finish as she closed her eyes and burrowed her head in her arms. She couldn't tell him, not even if he was dying. She couldn't tell him that she had been only trying to please him, to make him proud, even though she knew he already was. It seemed like a side effect of being an orphan, wanting to always overachieve on a parent's pride.

She heard Joel sigh and knew she was making this difficult for him.

"Ellie," Joel said slowly, making her look up and see sadness in his eyes as well, "you know what you need to do."

She stared at him for a moment, feeling confused as her mind was blank.

Joel sighed, realizing she wasn't thinking correctly and nudged something towards her, making her look down to see the pistol she had used for the longest time.

"No!" Ellie shouted as more tears fell, "I won't!"

She started to back away from him, unsure of what to do; something she hadn't felt for a long time.

"Ellie, you need to," Joel said softly as he stared at her. Anger flooded through her at his words.

"I'm not going to shoot you!" she shouted, kicking the gun away from her.

"And I don't want to kill you!" Joel stated, sounding angry. Ellie stared at him, knowing they were at a standstill.

"I won't let you," she whispered as she went to stand up, "you can fight back. I can help."

Ellie didn't give him the time to answer; instead, she ran towards the river, hoping he wouldn't follow.

* * *

I was actually thinking of ending the chapter off at the end of Joel's POV, but I figured that would be too short. This chapter (as well as part of the next one) was actually written after I wrote Chapter 1. I didn't have internet, and got the idea for this scene and put it as a 'sample' in my documents. Sorry if the format is a bit different than my usual from the last chapters; I edited it the best I could, but I thought it was mostly complete and didn't want to change it too much. I know that the chapter title was kind of spoiler-ish (for the rest of the chapter), but now we know that Joel is infected, and Ellie is distressed. What do you think will happen next? Please tell me your thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	42. Borrowed Time

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Haha, yep right under their noses as Tia said. Here's the next chapter! And what interview was that? I don't think I've seen that one so far.

* * *

Chapter 42: Borrowed Time

Ellie bent down beside the river, feeling somewhat bad about leaving Joel at their camp. She only had little time left before he…

_No. I'm not going to let it be like my dream. I'm not going to let him die. I will find a way to save him._

She shook her head, ridding herself of the unpleasant images from her nightmares. She hadn't told Joel, but it seemed somewhat strange that she hadn't had the dream in a while.

"Except that one night," she whispered, staring down at her reflection and finding comfort in the fact that she wasn't covered in blood.

She pulled off her backpack and opened it, pulling out Joel's water canteen. The letter briefly came into her view, but she didn't focus on it. She opened the cap of the canteen, holding it down to the water's edge as she filled it with water. When it was full, she put it back into her backpack.

Ellie thought that she would have rushed back to Joel, back to the camp where she would have been safe. Months ago, she wouldn't have even thought about leaving Joel's side, but now, it seemed as if she was the one trying to protect him.

_Instead of worry about it, I should be finding a way to cure him._

Her thought made her glance down at her wrist, and then at her pocket, where her switchblade was stored.

_Blood transfusion maybe? No, that wouldn't work. I don't even know my blood type or Joel's, and that might do more harm than good._

She bit her lip, staring at her reflection in the water while feeling frustrated. Her dream kept bothering her and no matter how hard she tried to shoo it away, it always came right back.

Her eyes briefly lingered on the reflection's scar, the same as her own. She sighed, wondering if she should have told Joel.

"It might have helped me remember," she stated, knowing that her memory of her time with Riley was slowly coming back.

Her hands reached behind her head, lingering on her hairband before she yanked it out, her hair now loose. She stared at her reflection, wondering what her mom would do to help Joel. They had been friends after all.

_Yeah, that's great advice Ellie; just imagine what she would have done,_ she thought sarcastically, her mood worsening.

Not a moment later, her head felt like it was split in two. She gripped it in her hands, feeling a familiar pounding return. Her eyes closed, and an image briefly flashed across her mind.

There was a woman and a man; the woman had longer brown hair and was staring down at her. The man was also staring at her, more out of shock of something than anything. The smile on the woman's face made an unknown emotion run through her, and the scene almost seemed familiar.

The image faded, leaving her to open her eyes. The man had looked similar to Joel, so maybe that was when he had been younger?

_Mom did say Joel was there when I was born._

So the woman must have been her mom. She stared at her reflection again, smiling when she saw the similarities that Joel had tried to point out to her.

She stood up, glancing back down at her reflection as she retied her ponytail, smiling at the water as she walked back towards the camp.

* * *

Joel rested his head against the ground, a headache now forming. He knew by Ellie's words that she was most likely referring to her tolerance to the Cordyceps fungus, but he wasn't sure how she could help.

His eyesight had gotten worse, and Joel knew that it was only a few short hours before he would most likely be transformed completely by the infection, becoming a Runner.

Joel sighed, feeling frustrated. He knew Ellie didn't want to end things, but he didn't know if he could fight against the fungus for long. Ellie didn't seem to understand her tolerance for the fungus, even though he had tried to explain it to her the best he could from the information in the letter.

He closed his eyes after a bit, listening to the sounds of the forest around him.

Something shaking his shoulder made him groggily open his eyes, seeing Ellie's face in his vision. He tried to sit up, but suddenly felt weak, making him remember when Ellie was partially infected.

Apparently she had been thinking about the same thing. Ellie held something up in front of him- his canteen- and unscrewed the lid, handing it to him so that he could take a drink.

_That was probably why she went to the river,_ Joel realized as he took a drink, conscious of Ellie staring at him.

"Thanks," Joel said as he lay back down, feeling a bit better.

Ellie lay down on her back beside him, staring at the sky. Joel started to try and get up, but Ellie stopped him.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she watched him trying to get up, but not making a move to help yet.

"We need to keep moving," Joel said, but a frown from Ellie made him stop his efforts, "What?"

"Nope, we are staying here for today," Ellie said, clearly her mind had been made up at the river, "you need to rest."

"If we stay here, more Infected will find us," Joel argued, but Ellie shook her head, being stubborn.

"I'll just shoot them," she stated clearly, surprising him.

"What if there are too many?" he questioned, wanting to make her think this through more. She frowned a bit.

"Then I'll hold them off for as long as I can, and the worst that can happen is that I'll get infected too," Ellie answered, making him want to groan at her train of thought. She wasn't thinking clearly.

"Ellie, I need you to leave," Joel said, trying to convince her of something more logically.

"No, I'm staying here," Ellie stated stubbornly, crossing her arms across her chest.

Joel sighed, wondering what he could say to make her know that she had to leave. She was clearly shocked and thought what she was doing was best, but he knew otherwise.

Nothing was coming to mind, and now that he thought about it, his mind seemed a bit foggy.

"Can you at least sleep?" Ellie asked him, worry on her face, "To keep your strength up?"

Joel wanted to argue with her to get her to safety, but he knew she wouldn't budge, plus he didn't have the energy right now. He nodded his head and lied back down on the ground.

Closing his eyes, Joel wondered if this would be the last time he would open them again.

* * *

The second part of this chapter (Joel's POV) was a part I had also prewritten as a 'sample'. Things seem to be getting worse for Joel, and I know, it seems like Ellie has lost her mind a bit (she's smiling while Joel is dying). The next few chapters will clean up this mess and essentially show more of how Joel and Ellie are dealing with the situation. See you next chapter!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	43. Out of Time

**Legendary Swordsman:** This is actually one of my worst fears in the game as well. It's interesting to write about, but these chapters affect some things later on in the fanfiction; I would never want to see Joel have to suffer through being infected in the game though.

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Ok, thanks. I still need to watch those ones. My internet has been glitchy every time I try to watch something, so I've been unable to watch them so far.

**Soccerari0476:** Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

* * *

Chapter 43: Out of Time

Joel fell asleep shortly after, and Ellie figured he must have been more exhausted than he ever let on. She smiled a bit as she watched him sleep, trying to remember back to when she had been infected.

_Joel said that I passed out and threw up thirteen times, but he hasn't done anything like that,_ her thought made her frown, another idea forming in her mind;_ what if my 'side effects' wouldn't have been from the fungus, but actually from the tolerance? From it being destroyed slightly, maybe?_

She sighed, feeling confused as she stared down at Joel. Her own indecision and confusion wasn't helping him one bit. Her gaze wandered back down to Joel as she sat down, keeping her rifle nearby. She figured that she would stay up, considering Joel needed all the rest he could get.

The sky slowly darkened, and Ellie passed the time by talking to Joel, even though she was sure he couldn't hear what she was saying. She talking about all sorts of things; what she used to do at the boarding school, possibilities of where the Fireflies were right now, all the types of things she had gathered from the "Old World", and so on.

"You know, you always seemed more like a father to me," she started, lying down beside him, "I know that seems kind of mean to my real dad, but it's true."

She waited instinctively for an answer, feeling disappointed when she didn't get one. She sighed, pressing her back against him. She could slightly hear his heartbeat, but his breathing was somewhat strained. Even so, the fact that he was breathing at all brought her comfort.

_He's asleep, so of course he wouldn't answer._

"Do you want me to keep watch while you sleep?" the question slipped out involuntarily, and she felt somewhat awkward carrying the one sided conversation.

_I'll lie down near him, and stay awake so I can keep watch as well._

She nodded at her decision, feeling somewhat satisfied with it. She lied down again beside Joel, struggling to keep her eyes open a bit. His steady breathing and the quietness of the night was making it hard to stay awake. Before she knew it, she felt herself slip off into her dreams.

Ellie awoke with a start, realizing that the camp seemed almost eerily quiet. She felt cold and as she sat up, she realized that Joel was missing.

"Joel?" she questioned; her eyes wide as she looked around the camp and didn't see him.

She quickly grabbed her pistol, leaving everything else behind except her switchblade as she started to walk through the woods. Jerky lines were leading in a zigzagging path, making her heart speed up with fear.

_What if something attacked him?_ She took a deep breath, calming herself as she saw Joel a few feet away.

He was awake and rummaging through something. She smiled slightly, feeling happy.

_Either the whole thing was another dream, or we were scared for nothing._

"Morning Joel!" she shouted, waving her hand in the air to get his attention. She smiled as he turned around, but then realized that something was wrong.

Joel's movements were unsteady, and she saw more of the fungus starting to take over his face. Her widened in horror when he didn't say anything; he just stood there unsure of himself, slumped over a bit like the Runners she had seen Joel take down.

His words came back to her, making her shake her head, not wanting to believe he was right.

"You feeling any better?" she asked, and Joel's head lifted a bit, staring at her. She felt herself start to shake a bit; Joel looking similar to a Runner wasn't helping her fears any.

She started to walk towards him, but stopped when he started to try and talk, his dialogue messed up from the fungus. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but his gaze seemed to be drawn to her pistol.

She glanced down, wondering if it was bothering him.

"Don't worry Joel. This is just in case we get into any trouble," she said, walking towards him with a hopeful smile.

_He's still Joel; he's just not feeling too well,_ she repeated the thoughts over and over in her head as she continued to walk towards him.

His posture became rigid for a moment, and her hope came crashing down when Joel suddenly lunged at her.

Shock overcame her, making her not able to move fast enough. She held the pistol in front of her to somewhat deflect his lunge, but his hands gripped her arms.

Pain seared through her skin as she got shoved away, and her vision started to blur. Deep red lines were carved on her arms, and Joel was now standing a few feet away, jerking in his spot.

Her breath started coming faster when his gaze traveled towards her, and he took a few jerky steps.

_He's still Joel,_ her thoughts were overcrowded with fear as she stared at him; _he's not Joel anymore. Joel is gone._

"Joel," her plea came out as a whisper as he got closer, "please. You can fight it; I know you can. You wouldn't give up so easily."

The jerky movements stopped for a moment, giving her some revived hope.

"See?" she motioned towards him, but stopped when she saw him looking down at her bleeding arm, "It's ok. It's just a scratch. We've been through worse, right?"

She desperately found herself wishing that he would answer her; that all of this might just be a dream, or that he would get better like she did. Some part of her knew that wasn't possible.

_Unless…_ Her gaze was drawn back towards the camp, and she started running towards it, feeling both fear and encouragement run through her when she realized that Joel was following her.

Ellie felt herself trip on a tree root, sending her sprawling into the camp. She barely had a moment to get up before the screeching behind her sent her into another panic.

_Joel's losing it fast,_ her gaze landed on his backpack,_ just a little farther…_

She got up, but then felt herself get pushed to the ground again. She landed on the ground hard as she felt her head start to throb. She coughed and realized that her head was bleeding.

Joel was behind her now, most likely drawn into a frenzy by her blood. Her eyes widened when she stared at him, tears spilling out of her eyes as she realized that he was no longer in control.

Her gaze flitted to his backpack again, but she knew she couldn't reach it. The Infected was now cornering her, and she had no other option. She pulled out the pistol and aimed it at Joel.

Ellie pulled the trigger.

* * *

Cliffhanger ending, but I figured that this would be a great place to stop. Don't worry though; the next chapter will be out sometime today so you won't have to wait long to find out what happens! Also, I would have updated this sooner, but my fanfiction account wasn't working properly for a while.

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	44. The Only Way

**LittleSlytherin394:** Yeah, I have the same problem. :) Don't worry though; this chapter will clear everything up.

**Legendary Swordsman: **Here's the answer! :)

* * *

Chapter 44: The Only Way

Joel felt himself get up, almost as if he were being moved by some unknown force. His mind was foggy and his head was pounding.

Ellie was asleep on the ground, and he felt himself move past her, into the woods. He didn't question his actions; they felt strangely familiar yet foreign at the same time.

He stopped at some point, leaning down to stare at something on the ground. He didn't know what it was, but noises from behind him made him somewhat wary. His eyesight was blurry, but he recognized the depth of the footsteps instantly.

"Morning Joel!" Ellie's voice penetrated through the fog he felt, and he turned around to see her smiling, "Are you feeling any better?"

He saw her start to shake a bit, making him wonder why.

"Ellie, what's wrong?" his voice sounded strange; he wasn't even sure if Ellie could understand him. His gaze was drawn to her pistol. She followed it, looking up at him a moment later.

"Don't worry Joel. This is just in case we get into any trouble," he wanted to nod at her answer, but felt his energy drain suddenly.

He felt the controls shift, and once again the imaginary puppeteer took over. His vision blurred as he felt himself move forward, and the next thing he smelled was blood.

_Ellie's blood,_ he realized a moment later, alarms going off in his head.

"Joel, please. You can fight it; I know you can. You wouldn't give up so easily."

Her voice made him be able to gain control again, and he felt horror go through him when he saw deep scratches on her arm.

_I did this to her,_ he thought, feeling angry at himself for the lack of self-control.

Ellie followed his gaze down to her arm, giving him a fake smile.

"It's ok. It's just a scratch. We've been through worse, right?"

The shaking still hadn't subsided, and he could tell that she was lying. He had hurt her, and now she was afraid of him.

Joel felt himself lose control again as he smelled her blood; she took off sprinting back towards the camp, and he realized that he was following her. He no longer had control over his actions.

He saw himself in the camp now, and Ellie was on the ground, blood leaking from a wound on her forehead.

_No, don't hurt her!_ He yelled at himself, still not able to take control of his will again.

Ellie stared at him with fear, and he saw her glancing over at something as he got closer. Tears started streaming down her face as she pointed the pistol at him.

A gunshot was heard a moment later, and Joel felt pain radiate throughout his shoulder. The pain actually made him come back to himself. He saw Ellie scramble over to his backpack.

"Ellie, what are you doing?" he asked, and she glanced over at him, pulling something out from his backpack. He recognized it a moment later as the vaccine.

"This should help, right?" she asked, walking towards him with the vaccine. He wanted her to desperately hurry; his will was starting to fade again and he didn't want to hurt her any more.

She got over to him, sticking the needle in his arm and hesitated for a moment. She either didn't know how to use the needle, or she was remembering her own side effects of the vaccine.

"I'll be here when you wake up, ok?" she asked, and he looked at her slightly nodding. She took a deep breath and pressed on the syringe.

Joel vision swam slightly, his strength fading quickly. His head throbbed, and his vision darkened as he felt himself fall.

* * *

Ellie had not expected to see Joel drop like a fly. She stood near him, slightly shocked as she tried to figure out what to do next.

_He fainted, so now I need something to mark down how many times he'll throw up. He should be fine after the thirteenth,_ she walked over and grabbed a piece of stray bark, pulling out her switchblade,_ this should work._

She sat down beside him, now sure of how to take care of him. Her gaze wandered over to him, and then she realized her mistake.

_He's face down in the mud; he can't breathe!_

Her thought made her scramble up and try to turn Joel over. This was not easy, considering Joel was around 150 pounds heavier than she was, and he was passed out.

"For not eating much, you sure do weigh a lot," she muttered, finally being able to turn him over.

_Good, he can breathe,_ she started smiling, but stopped when Joel's figure had an outline. Her vision started swimming a bit, and she closed her eyes, feeling somewhat wobbly, _maybe I should lie down._

She pressed her head to the ground for a moment, lying down beside Joel. She then remembered that she was bleeding from Joel attacking her; this was reinforced by the sound of clicking in the distance.

_They'll find us,_ she thought, not able to keep her eyes open any longer, _sorry that I can't help any more Joel._

Ellie figured that if she was going to die, she would prefer if she was with Joel.

* * *

This chapter was going to be longer, but I didn't want to leave you guys thinking that I killed Joel off any longer than necessary. So, Joel is alive! Yay! Well, at least they are both alive for right now (considering that Ellie just passed out and the Infected are coming, that doesn't look very good). What do you think will happen next? Also, I would like to report that so far I have managed to stay spoiler free, so anyone who might already have the game and any of this is true or similar, I have no idea. It's going to be interesting that in a few short days I am going to be able to see if I was right about anything. Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	45. Something to Lose

**LittleSlytherin394:** Aww, sorry it almost ruined your day (that was not my intention)! More information about the vaccines (as well as the number they have left) will be in this chapter. And yes, that would be convenient, but sadly the small group of Fireflies has no idea where they are.

**Legendary Swordsman:** Haha, I'll try! :) Here's the next chapter!

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Yeah I think it will be interesting, considering I made this up when I knew nearly nothing about the game.

* * *

Chapter 45: Something to Lose

Ellie stirred a bit, opening her eyes to see two things. The first was a fire a few feet away from her, and the second was Joel's face. She tried to sit up, but couldn't, so she instead stayed silent. He was staring at her with an amused but curious expression.

"What did I miss?" she asked, and he smiled a bit.

"You passed out again," his statement made her sigh, and she looked away from him.

"I was supposed to be taking care of you."

Joel shook his head, still looking amused.

"You weren't in any condition to be taking care of me."

She knew his comment was true, but she didn't like it. How was she going to help keep them alive if she kept getting into trouble?

"What happened?" she questioned, glancing around to see they were in a different area. She frowned slightly.

"I woke up after a bit. The Infected were getting near the camp, so I took care of them and moved us here," Joel explained, and his next sentence made her a bit more relaxed, "I think we are getting closer to the Fireflies' plane, so we should be seeing them sometime tomorrow."

"That's good; they'll be glad to know we haven't dropped off the face of the Earth," she mumbled, staring at the fire.

Her mind wandered back to when Joel had been infected, and she got up, walking over towards his backpack.

Joel followed her, a curious expression on his face as she opened the lining where the vaccines were held. Both she and Joel stared down at the last vaccine left.

"Only one left," Joel's comment mirrored her thoughts, and they both looked at each other.

"I think we should save it in case you get infected again," Ellie stated, continuing when Joel started to say something, "I have a tolerance to the Cordyceps, remember?"

"You only have a 25% chance that you won't die though." His statement made her frown.

"Yeah, but you have a 0% chance of living," she retorted, making him sigh. Joel shook his head, looking as if he was going to have a headache any moment now.

"Let's keep it hidden, just in case either one of us needs it."

She nodded at his suggestion, feeling somewhat satisfied. She didn't want Joel to get infected again.

_I won't be going near any dead Infected for a long time now,_ she thought, going to sit near the fire. The air had a nip to it, despite the sky being clear.

She stared at the fire for a while, finding some comfort in the silence. Events from the past few days rushed at her, making her exhausted despite already having slept.

She heard Joel come to sit beside her as well, and she glanced over when he sighed. A question came into her mind, and she hesitated for a moment, not sure if she should voice it out loud.

"What was it like?" she asked, and Joel looked over at her, "Being Infected?"

"It was definitely different," Joel shook his head, "It's not like I would expect it to have been."

She tilted her head, slightly confused. She somewhat wished that she would remember more about when she had been infected back at the barn.

"What do you mean?"

"It's almost as if you are in control for a bit, but then can't control yourself. Maybe, the fungus doesn't fully take control of your mind, but instead after all of the things you see yourself do, you just give in to it."

She stayed silent for a moment, thinking through what he had said. A realization dawned on her.

"You saw what you did as an Infected?" she asked, and he nodded, staring into the fire.

"If I would have done anything more than hurt you I…" Joel's sentence trailed off, and she realized the hidden meaning behind his words. She playfully punched him in the arm, giving him a smile.

"Don't get all suicidal on me now," she joked, "that's not being a good role model."

Her desired reaction came true: Joel laughed at her statement, shaking his head.

"Don't worry," he stated; comfortable silence filling in afterwards as they gazed at the fire.

Ellie didn't know why it was so fascinating; maybe it was because they didn't have fire like this back at the quarantine zone, or maybe it was because it was something from the old world; each serving its own purpose.

She lied down on her back, gazing up at the stars for a bit. She kept glancing at Joel, deciding that she trusted him enough.

_Maybe he could even help me remember the rest,_ she took a deep breath.

"I traveled a bit with Riley around a year ago. We were both in the Boston military boarding school, and didn't get along very well in the beginning. She took some of my stuff, so that didn't help."

Joel chuckled a bit as he lied down as well, and she could tell he was imagining the scene. She continued a moment later.

"Riley was sneaking out of the boarding school the same night I first got there. We started traveling together. At first, it was just going to abandoned malls or places outside of the quarantine zone. Soon afterwards, Riley wanted to head to the Fireflies."

"How come?" Joel asked as he glanced over at her. She shook her head, understanding what her friend had meant now that she was outside the quarantine zone.

"Riley didn't want to be like all of the other people living in Boston; she didn't want to be forced into the military or left to fend for herself among the other people. She wanted to find a different way out, and she thought the Fireflies were that way. I guess it makes more sense now that I'm traveling with you, but I didn't understand her at that time…"

She trailed off, knowing Joel wouldn't push her for more information. Some part of her felt like she had to get the whole thing out.

"We found the Fireflies after a while. They were closer to Boston then, but I guess that makes more sense since they are underneath the quarantine zone. It was sort of like when we first met them; we were assigned a test to 'prove our loyalty' or else we would be killed. I remember heading out with Riley to complete the test, but…"

She fell silent again, her mind somewhat fuzzy. Joel glanced over at her, some worry on his face.

"But?" he prodded, and she knew that she had to finish now, no matter how many missing pieces were left in her memory.

"We got captured, by the military I think. Riley got angry; of course we were going to be punished since we had run away, but something was different. It was the military, but they wanted us for something. There was a man there, but I can't remember what he said, or what he looked like. It's all fuzzy. Whatever he said made Riley lose it, and we had to get out alive. We both got hurt," her hand wandered up to her scar, and Joel noticed the action.

"That's how you got that?" she nodded at his question.

"I don't remember how; I just remembered that I was bleeding. We made it out eventually, but after that, I started having those memory problems. Riley had to explain to me everything that had happened, and it seemed like I had never met her before, sort of like with what happened to you after the hotel in Pittsburgh. I can't remember what happened after that; it's all blank. I made it back to Boston and started staying in that abandoned house."

"Where did Riley go?"

She shook her head, feeling her throat close up a bit.

"I don't know. All I know was when I got back to Boston, I was alone."

Ellie stopped talking, feeling like she couldn't continue. She wanted to know where Riley was, but she couldn't remember. All sorts of possibilities were floating around in her head, but she couldn't single out any one of them.

Joel's heavy sigh made her look over at him. He seemed to be thinking something through, and she suddenly felt bad for putting such a burden on his mind.

"The beginning of the outbreak wasn't pleasant," Joel's words surprised her; she glanced over at him with somewhat widened eyes.

"Are you sure you want to start this?" she asked, knowing that he would regret the swarm of questions that would come his way.

"Yeah," he nodded, and then continued, "It started sometime around my birthday, so that only made things worse. Everything and everyone that I knew was essentially gone. The only person I was able to make contact with directly after the outbreak was my brother."

"And Fatty," she added jokingly, but then the weight of his words sunk in, "You have a brother?"

"_Had_," Joel corrected her, "His name was David."

Her gaze wandered to her backpack, where the pistol was stored. An image of the 'D' carved onto the pistol came into her mind.

"So that's whose initial is on the pistol?" she questioned, and he nodded.

"We used to go to the barn a lot before we grew up. It was sort of like our world in-between. He moved to a different town a bit closer to the barn, and I stayed in my hometown. We met up shortly after the outbreak and traveled for a bit."

Ellie glanced over at him, wondering if she should ask what was on her mind.

"Where is he now?"

"Dead," Joel's voice sounded somewhat bitter, "he got infected shortly after, and I had to leave him behind."

Shock and sadness ran through her as his words sunk in; the way he was telling her this made it seem like it was still a burden on him. Her gaze wandered to the fire, now a pile of burnt wood on the ground.

"It's not your fault," she said, looking over at him. He met her gaze, giving her a sad smile.

"Yeah, it's just that I wish I would have been able to do something about it," the second part of the sentence seemed to be said more towards himself than her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "Guess we both have something to lose."

Joel didn't answer her, staying silent for the rest of the night. Neither of them got to sleep; both being burdened by their own secrets.

* * *

Yay! I can't believe I was able to get three chapters out again today! :) Anyways, I'm not sure if Joel has a brother in the game (I heard a rumor about it, but I didn't really research into it since it might be a spoiler), but Joel's brother in this fanfiction could be considered an OC (unless there is a character by the same name, origin, and backstory as this one). Next chapter we meet back up with the Fireflies, and Ellie learns that some secrets are better left unsaid. Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	46. Back to Boston

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Yeah, although it's fun making their backstories up as well (I have a plan that I will release more information on later in the fanfiction). And yeah, I saw that as well.

**Exleader75:** Hmm… well at least I know his name's not David :) And I was kind of thinking that it would be near Boston, considering the interaction between Ellie and Joel didn't seem like they had been traveling together for a long while (although it did make for an ideal area for this fanfiction, so it's ok for the mess up :) ). Thanks for your continued support!

**Legendary Swordsman:** Yep and there's a lot more coming their way (good and bad).

* * *

Chapter 46: Back to Boston

Ellie did not expect to be pointing her pistol at Tia, nor did she expect to be running into the Fireflies so early in the morning.

_Then again, Joel did say that we would run into them sometime today._

Tia looked just as surprised as she felt, and she put her pistol away. Her glance back at Joel told her that he had been expecting something like this to happen.

Silence filled the space, and she figured that she should at least say something.

"Um… hi?" she started, not quite sure of what to say. It seemed to be the ice breaker though when Tia started talking.

"Where have you two been? We assumed something must have happened since you disappeared, and then a dead Infected was found," Tia seemed somewhat irked, which made her feel somewhat sorry for making the Fireflies worry. They were supposed to be heading back to Boston with them after all.

"We got a bit side tracked," Joel started to explain, but Ellie took over for him.

"I went hunting and found the dead Infected. It kind of released spores into the air when Joel came looking for me, and long story short, he got infected," she pointed back at Joel.

Tia looked wary when Ellie finished her explanation, and she could tell that the older woman's hand was hovering near her weapon.

"Don't worry; he's cured now," she stated, not realizing what she was saying before it was too late. Joel gave her a warning glance, but she hadn't been able to stop the explanation from coming out of her mouth.

"How is he cured? There's no cure for the fungus," Tia's questioning was exactly what Joel had been warning her about.

She heard him sigh and he started rummaging in his backpack. She turned around, already knowing what Joel was looking for.

"There's not an official cure, but it works so far," Joel handed Tia the vaccine, and she studied it, looking a bit skeptical.

"So you're living proof of it working, but why didn't Ellie get infected? She had contact with the spores too, right?"

Ellie wished she could just lie and say that they had used another vaccine; almost anything to be able to keep her secret between her and Joel. Joel seemed to pick up on this.

"That's a bit more complicated, so you might want to take it up with whoever wrote you that letter."

_They must have been the person that mom sent the letter to in the Fireflies,_ she thought, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Do you mind if I hang onto this? It might prove useful in finding an effective cure for those that are far into the infection," Tia asked, and Ellie knew that their plan to keep the vaccine hidden was no longer an option.

"If it helps," she muttered, staring at the ground as she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

She found questions about her tolerance pop into her head; her mother hadn't really included much information and Joel wasn't the best at explaining something he didn't know about, so she didn't have much to go off of. She shook her head, ridding her of her thoughts. She might never know the answer, and it might forever remain a mystery, so why dwell on it?

"The plane's ready; we were actually coming to search for you two," Tia informed them as they walked back towards the clearing. Ellie felt somewhat better knowing that they would be among friends again.

"So we're all ready to leave then?" she asked, feeling excitement at the prospect of being able to see the inside of a place for the first time.

"Almost; we just need to get everyone on board. The rest of the group is making preparations inside of the plane," Tia explained, and Ellie felt herself grow even more excited. Joel noticed this and shook his head, signaling for her to calm down.

_I can calm down outside my head, but not in here,_ her thought made her smile as she saw the plane. Keeping Joel's look in mind, she took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

She looked around her in awe when they started walking up the old steps to the interior of the plane.

The inside of the plane had many seats, enough to fit all of the Fireflies plus them. The seats were cream colored and had two seats side by side all the way to the back of the plane. She figured that the food and supplies was stored in the back of the plane.

A room that led up to the controls of the plane was covered with a curtain, most likely so that the pilots could concentrate without any distractions.

Ellie let Joel guide her to two of the seats mid-way through the place. She sat on the side with the window, glancing out at the grass beneath the plane. She glanced over at Joel, seeing that he was frowning slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Her question made him turn to look at her, his frown still present.

"I never really liked planes."

She couldn't help but laugh at his statement; she didn't understand why, but the way he said it made it somewhat funny.

Joel smiled a bit at her as the other Fireflies situated themselves into the other seats. The wait seemed like forever to her, and she started to doze a bit. When she woke up again, it was dark.

"When are we going to start?" she mumbled to Joel, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she yawned.

He pointed at the window, prompting her to look out it. Her eyes widened when she realized she couldn't see the ground. She looked back at Joel, still slightly shocked.

"We're in the air," she stated and he nodded, making her realize something, "I missed the takeoff?"

Joel nodded again, and she frowned, wishing she would have stayed awake.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You were sleeping, and I didn't want you to get nauseous."

His explanation seemed plausible, but she still didn't feel any better about it.

_Once in a lifetime chance, and I blow it by sleeping._

"So, what do we do now?" she asked, glancing around the plane to see the other Fireflies occupied with their own thoughts. Joel shrugged, making her somewhat confused.

"Wait, I guess," he stated, and she thought she understood now part of why he didn't like planes.

"Oh."

Ellie started to try and find things to occupy her time: looking out the window wasn't very productive since it was dark and she couldn't see anything, Joel didn't seem like he wanted to talk much, and all of the other Fireflies were already doing something. The only thing she decided she could do was go back to sleep until they arrived.

Joel told her that they should be arriving sometime in the early morning, making it somewhat easy to sneak into Boston considering the guards would be either switching posts or letting cargo into the quarantine zone.

She awoke again to something flashing red, and someone shouting something. She still felt half-asleep, and Joel finally realized that she was awake.

"What's going on?" she asked, starting to feel as if something was wrong. Joel glanced up at the control room, and then out the window. She followed his gaze, seeing something red running along one of the plane's wings, as well as heavy rain and thunder. It took her a moment to figure out that the red on the wing was fire.

"Don't freak out, alright?" Joel must have realized that she was starting to figure out what was going on.

Tia was shouting commands from the front near the control hatch, and Ellie felt like she was the only person who didn't fully understand what was going on.

"One of the plane's wings is on fire," Joel explained quickly, "the pilots are trying to land somewhere safe…"

"But there's no safe place to land near Boston," she finished, her eyes widening, "We're going to crash, aren't we?"

The worry on Joel's face confirmed the answer, and she started to feel somewhat nervous. Plane crashes were supposed to be really bad; rare, but bad.

She glanced out her window again and saw the tree line below her. A moment later, the plane's wing fell apart from the fire, and her vision went swimming. Her head collided with something, and her vision turned black.

* * *

Sorry for not updating sooner; the next few days are going to be pretty busy for me, but I will update as much as I can (expect a lot the night of the 13th; I'm staying up all night to celebrate, as well as hoping to finish this fanfiction at midnight). Ellie and Joel are now right outside of Boston, and the plane has crashed (not a very good predicament to be in). What do you think will happen next? Please tell me any thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	47. It All Comes Crashing Down

**Rich-123 (Guest):** More about that will be explained later (when Joel and Ellie actually realize what went wrong).

* * *

Chapter 47: It All Comes Crashing Down

Joel knew he had passed out for a while; his vision was foggy as he opened his eyes, seeing the remains of the burning plane around them. His eyes instantly scanned for Ellie, and he felt alarm run through him when he couldn't see her. None of the Fireflies seemed to be present either.

_It's just me,_ he thought, knowing that Ellie must be some place nearby.

"Ellie!" he shouted, getting up but cringing as his head started pounding. He held it for a moment; his hand coming away red.

He stumbled over to the remains of the plane that had not been touched by the fire yet, leaning against them for a moment before continuing his search. He walked among the flaming debris, determined to not leave until he found Ellie.

He finally found her; she was lying on the ground unconscious and her arm was bleeding badly. He ran over and shook her shoulder. He picked her up when she didn't stir, knowing that they had to get away from the burning remains of the plane.

The weight of Ellie and her backpack combined gave him some strain, especially because of slight blood loss. He got to the edge of the debris, and Ellie finally started to stir. He laid her down on the ground, partially because he was tired and partially because Ellie would find it weird if she woke up and he was carrying her.

Ellie sat up almost as soon as she regained consciousness. He stood a few feet away from her, arms crossed as he tried to figure out what they were going to do next.

"Glad to see you're alright," his comment made her look over at him. Her eyes widened when she noticed the burning debris around them.

"What do we do now?" she asked as she stood up, quickly regaining her strength. Joel shook his head, trying to figure that out.

"First, we should at least get out of the debris. We can head to Boston on foot after that; we shouldn't be too far away."

She nodded and they started to walk.

"Wait!" her call made him stop and turn around, "Where are the others?"

"I'm not sure," he answered truthfully, and her eyes were filled with sadness. He sighed, not liking seeing her this way, "It's possible they could have made their way back to Boston already."

"They wouldn't leave us though," she stated, and he had a thought.

"They might have had to if the military showed up. It would have been bad if they would have found a large amount of Fireflies, but we would have a better chance of blending in since it's just the two of us."

"Alright," she mumbled, starting to follow behind him again.

When they got to the tree line, Joel heard voices near them. He hid beneath some bushes, hearing Ellie do the same beside him.

"The military?" she questioned and he nodded, glancing out to see search parties scouring the plane debris.

_They're looking for something,_ his eyes narrowed, but he decided to forget about it and get both of them back to Boston safely.

"Come on; if we're quiet enough, we should be able to sneak around them."

Ellie nodded and started following him through the tree line, keeping out of sight of the military. The voices had just started to fade as they left the trees, making Joel feel a bit nostalgic.

The Boston quarantine zone was in front of them, and he saw Ellie frown a bit.

"Never thought I'd see this place again," she mumbled, and he looked over at her, seeing mixed emotions on her face.

He motioned for her to follow him towards the gate. He veered off to the left before they got to the checkpoint, towards where he knew another secret entrance to the quarantine zone was.

Ellie seemed to pick up on this; she followed silently behind him until he opened the hatch. He glanced around to see if anyone had seen them before following after her, closing the hatch behind them.

Ellie was reading something when he caught up to her. She handed it to him, and he realized that it was a note.

_Joel and Ellie,_

_ We had to go on ahead to the base underneath of Boston. The secret entrance is hidden in the abandoned subway underneath the quarantine zone. You should know where that is Joel (especially with your 'occupation', as Ellie called it). We will be waiting for you to return. Do us a favor and make it less than a year._

_ Tia_

Joel had to read through the letter again; several things caught his attention.

"They must have been pretty confident that we would survive," Ellie remarked as he put the note in his backpack.

"You mentioned something about my 'occupation'?" his question made her eyes widen, and she scrambled for a believable excuse.

"I was talking about you having an occupation, not the exact details about it."

He sighed, shaking his head. Ellie had a strangely saddened expression at the gesture, so he let it go.

_Tia must have put two and two together,_ he thought, thinking back to the vaccine that was now in the Fireflies possession.

"Let's get going. I know where the subway entrance is, so it shouldn't take that long to get there," he explained as they started to walk through the back alleys, "it's actually connected through one of these."

Ellie was silent, and he wondered what was on her mind. He wouldn't directly ask her, considering both of them had a tendency to avoid the answer.

Voices assaulted his hearing, and he motioned for Ellie to hide behind some crates. She crouched behind them, and he followed, looking out towards the entrance of one of the alleys. Two guards were talking.

"Some of the other guards say that a plane crashed right outside of Boston. No news about it yet though," the guards seemed to be chatting idly, and Joel was going to continue moving. Ellie stopped him with a glance though.

"Do you think they found the girl?" his eyes widened at the other guard's question, and he glanced over at Ellie.

"No; she probably died in the crash either way," the other answered, walking towards where they were unknowingly hiding a bit.

"How's that going to help us?" the one guard joked, punching the other in the arm playfully. They were silent for a moment, but then continued.

"What about that new breakthrough over at the lab?"

"The one with the Infected?"

"Yeah, something about being able to identify Runners."

The guard's conversation drew him in. The Infected weren't supposed to be able to be recognized after having contact with the fungus, so what were they talking about?

"When did they figure this out?" The guards had resumed their conversation.

"A few weeks ago. Apparently they were trying stuff out on that one Runner that got shot around a year ago."

"Really? What did they find out?"

"Apparently it was someone from in the quarantine zone; someone named Rosanne, I think."

Ellie froze beside him, and he glanced over to see her eyes widen. Shock ran through him as well, but something was starting to dawn on him.

"You mean that lady that used to live near the abandoned house?" the guards broke into mocking laughter, continuing their conversation, which now consisted more of 'calling names'.

He heard something beside him and glanced over in shock to see Ellie pulling out her pistol, starting to move towards the guards. He quickly grabbed her to avoid being seen.

She started struggling; his one arm was covering whatever profanities at the guards were attempting to come out of her mouth, while his other arm held her back. Wetness hit his one hand and he looked down to see tears streaming down her face.

He felt sadness enter him as he shook his head, seeing hatred in her eyes. The one guard eventually moved on to his other post, leaving the other alone.

Ellie had calmed down a bit, although Joel knew that she was glaring daggers at the one guard's back. He glanced at the guard and then motioned for Ellie to stay behind the crates. She gave him a questioning look, but thankfully didn't ask what he was doing.

Joel snuck out from behind the crates, grabbing the man and muffling his attempted cries for help as he was dragged into the alleyway. He rounded the corner with the guard and saw anger in Ellie's eyes again. It took him a moment to realize that her intense emotions were directed at the guard.

The guard broke free of his grasp, stumbling to the ground between him and Ellie. He looked between the two of them, fear clearly on his face. Ellie was walking closer to him now, her hand hovering near her pocket.

_Where her switchblade is,_ he realized, wondering if this was a good idea after all. He shook his head;_ the man deserves it._

"What do you want?" the guard asked, standing up shaking. Joel gave Ellie a glance and then kicked the man's knee out, sending him to the ground again. His cries of pain were lost in the echo of the alley.

Ellie looked somewhat conflicted; lost between her anger and her morals. Joel motioned towards the guard on the ground, and she reached into her backpack, pulling out her pistol.

_Simple and quick,_ he thought as he looked at her, _almost like with an animal._

She walked up to the guard, and Joel recognized her pained look as she stared at him. Some part of her was trying to tell her to let him go, but the stronger part wanted to make him suffer. Joel had been caught in such a decision once, but he figured he shouldn't dwell on that.

The man stared up at Ellie with fear, backing away slowly as she came closer. She took a deep breath and pointed the pistol at the guard.

Joel felt the moment stretch on forever, and he was surprised when he saw the retreating form of the guard run out of the alleyway, and the sound of the pistol dropping onto the ground.

He looked back at Ellie, ready to say something, but stopped when he realized how broken she looked. Tears were streaming down her face again as she picked up the pistol. She slipped it back into her backpack without another word, a pained expression on his face. He saw her mouth moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying.

Joel walked towards her cautiously, not sure of her reaction. She was shaking, her face blank as tears rolled down her face. He guessed when she cried it wasn't like normal children; other kids before the pandemic would have screamed and cried for their parents, maybe even made noise while crying. Ellie just stood there silently, not making an effort to move.

He led her away from the alley, and she was still silent. He finally stopped closer to the subway entrance, letting her lean against a wall. He heard her mumbling something, but he couldn't make it out.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he questioned, his tone soft. She shook her head, but still continued mumbling. He came closer to her, and she leaned against him, finally letting him know what she had been mumbling about.

"She's dead, and I'm never going to see her again."

Joel's heart froze when he heard those words. It finally made sense to him.

_She's just actually realizing what that means. No one's ever really cared for her, so she's never had to deal with something like this._

"She said she wanted to meet after I read the letter, but I never gave her a chance," Ellie mumbled, shaking slightly.

Something else dawned on him, something that the guards had said: Rosanne had been the Runner that allowed them to escape the quarantine zone in the first place. He stared down at Ellie, realizing that she knew the truth now too.

_She said she didn't have much time,_ Joel cut off his thought process, not wanting to relive the memory; sadness creeped into him as well.

He let Ellie lean on him for a long time before leading her down into the abandoned subway and into the Fireflies' main base.

* * *

This chapter was harder for me to write for some reason; I had it in my head from the start, but I guess it was just hard to translate into words. Only a few more days left until the game releases, and that means that this fanfiction will be coming to an end soon as well. Please tell me your thoughts and ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	48. Finding a Cure

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Yeah I try to keep the characters as close to their original personalities as I can, as well as them reacting to situations that I think could possibly happen in the game.

* * *

Chapter 48: Finding a Cure

Ellie was leaning against the wall the next day, thinking through everything. They had arrived at the Fireflies' main base the night before, meeting up with Tia to figure out what they had missed.

"Nearly three-fourths of our numbers were depleted in that plane crash," Tia shook her head, sadness in her eyes.

_Sadness, that's all anyone feels anymore,_ she had thought bitterly. Tia hadn't inquired about her sour mood, but she had definitely known it was there.

"How are the others?" Joel asked, knowing that she wouldn't feel like talking for once.

"JC and Markus got away with a few minor scrapes. Baker was severely hurt, but he's supposed to make a full recovery," Ellie felt glad that their friends were alright, which helped her mood a bit.

"The military was scouring the plane when we left," Joel's voice made her look up at him, remembering the guards at the edges of the plane debris.

"Probably looking for us," Tia commented, "We had to get out of there. It wouldn't have been good if they would have found us."

Ellie frowned slightly, wanting to retort. Joel's warning glance made her think otherwise.

"They seemed to be looking for someone," he stated, making her remember the guards' conversation.

Ellie was inwardly kicking herself; wishing she would have done something to the one guard that Joel had managed to capture. She instead had let him go, not punishing him for what he deserved.

_Mercy,_ she felt bitter at the word,_ Does that even exist anymore? There is no mercy. None for anyone living outside the quarantine zones, none for the Infected, and none for us._

"Don't know if it was anyone specific, but what's important is that we got back safely," Tia stated, shaking her head as she walked away.

She felt someone shaking her shoulder and looked up, seeing Joel with a worried expression on his face.

"You there?" he questioned, and she assumed he had been talking. She shook her head, feeling somewhat sorry for not listening.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something," she answered, feeling somewhat exhausted. Joel sighed, making her feel worse.

_He's disappointed, like everyone else,_ her thought made her mood worsen, and her gaze fell to the ground.

"Tess probably thinks we're dead," Joel's statement made her look at him. She gave him a questioning look and he continued, "It's been a year. Usually I would have sent some kind of sign, but we've been preoccupied."

"Do you want to go find her?" she asked, walking towards him a bit. She knew that Joel and Tess were friends, so she at least wanted to make an effort to help.

_Can't promise the same with Fatty though,_ her thought made her smile a bit.

"I want to at least get word to her that we're alright," he seemed lost in thought a bit, and an idea formed in her mind.

"I could go find her," she volunteered, feeling a bit excited. She started smiling, and Joel gave her a worried look.

"Are you sure you'll be alright alone?" his question made her pause, wondering what he was worried about.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It'll be a lot less suspicious if a girl's walking around Boston than a black marketer," her comment made both of them laugh a bit, lightening the mood.

"One more thing: Tess should be somewhere near the marketplace around now," Joel informed her.

"Don't you know her schedule well?" she joked, laughing a bit as she started to walk off.

She walked towards the secret entrance leading into the subway, only bringing her switchblade. She figured it would be a lot less suspicious that was too.

_Some people say a change of scenery is what people who are grieving need, but there's no change of scenery here,_ she sighed, walking through the abandoned subway.

She quickly was able to get out of the subway, finding it a bit depressing that no one was there, but then again, they called it "abandoned" for a reason.

Not many guards were around, making it easy for her to sneak towards the marketplace. She spotted Tess instantly: she was handing something to a man. The man then walked away casually, giving her some time to talk with Tess.

As soon as Tess saw her, she could tell that the older woman was slightly shocked. She smiled, and Tess put her hand to her forehead.

"Don't tell me Joel's kicked the bucket already?" Tess asked with a shake of her head, making them both laugh.

"No, he's fine," she stated, but then looked around, seeing a lot of people, "Is there anywhere we can talk privately?"

Tess led her into a small abandoned store that used to most likely sell music records. She sat down on a bench, and Tess followed.

"So, what's Joel's secret message now?" Tess asked, joking a little. Ellie frowned a bit, not sure of what to say. Joel had never really given her a direct message.

"I'm not quite sure; he didn't really say. Just didn't want you to think we were dead after all this time, I guess," she shrugged, wondering what to do next.

"What are you two doing back in Boston anyway?" Tess questioned, making her slightly nervous, "Weren't you supposed to be heading to California?"

Ellie wasn't quite sure of how much to reveal to Tess; of course she was Joel's friend, but Ellie wasn't quite sure that she fully trusted her yet.

"Yeah we made it to California; turned out our 'friends' weren't completely there. We had to find a faster way back to Boston," she didn't want to say 'Fireflies' out loud for fear of someone listening in. Tess seemed to get the hint.

"So, you just decided to come back here?" she questioned, starting to walk out of the building.

"Yeah, thought it was the best thing for now," Ellie answered with a nod of her head.

_Until we figure out what to do next,_ she thought, following Tess out of the store.

She said farewell, telling Tess that they would keep in contact as much as they could. She made her way into one of the alleyways connecting to the subway, hoping to get back to tell Joel about their success.

She perked up when she heard hurried footsteps and voices behind her. She stopped and turned around, which seemed to be a big mistake. Two guards were following her; one of them looked strangely familiar, but she couldn't remember from where.

"Wait!" the one familiar guard shouted, and she got a glimpse of him. He had short brown hair and was wearing the standard military uniform.

He seemed to be at a loss of what to say once he caught up to her; he kept glancing back at his partner, who was still coming down the alleyway. She had no idea why she listened to the man; she knew she should have run as soon as they had started talking to her.

_That might have led them to the base though,_ she thought, figuring this was better than exposing the Fireflies' base to the military.

"You're going to need to come with us," the familiar looking guard stated, but he wasn't very convincing. He looked like he was extremely nervous, and it was possible that he even recognized her.

"Why? What did I do?" she retorted, feeling somewhat irritated. All she had wanted to do was get back to Joel and report that she had talked to Tess; that had been it.

"You were conversing with someone who is suspected of participating in smuggling. You need to be inspected for any suspicious background or anything illegal," the other guard had finally caught up, and his words made her mood sour even more. Luckily for them, she only had her switchblade with her.

"You think I was participating in the black market?" she questioned, growing angry, "You actually think that I would even have money to do something like that? All you people ever do is let us live on meager rations with low-paying jobs or usher us into the military to be ordered around!"

The volume of her voice had risen with each word, and the familiar looking guard looked somewhat frightened and possibly startled. He probably hadn't been expecting an outburst.

The older guard smacked her, sending her to the floor. She scrambled to get away, but she felt him tug on her hair. She grew frantic as her ponytail came loose; the hairband was now in the older guard's hand.

She looked back at them from on the ground, seeing shock on their faces. Time seemed to stand still, and she finally got up and started running, not caring if she led the guards to the base anymore.

"It's her!" the shout from the older guard assaulted her ears. She tripped a moment later, skinning her hands on the ground.

She stared at her bleeding hands, only to be reminded of her and Joel's escape from the quarantine zone, and the fact that her mother had been the 'distraction'. She felt grief overcome her again as the guards caught up to her.

The familiar guard looked worried when he saw her injuries, almost as if he wanted to help. The older guard stepped forward, roughly pulling her up from the ground.

"You're coming with us," he ordered, and she complied, not sure of what to do.

A gunshot rang out and the older guard fell to the ground, dead. She stood in shock, glancing back and feeling relief when she saw Tess. The familiar guard was huddled in a corner, most likely frightened by the sight of seeing his friend dead.

"You ok?" Tess asked as she walked over towards her, revolver now hidden in her backpack. Ellie nodded, following her over towards where the other guard was.

"Don't shoot me," the guard pleaded, and Tess looked at her for confirmation.

"He didn't do anything," she stated, and Tess roughly helped the man up. She held onto his arm, and he didn't try to get away.

"I assume you might want to bring him for interrogation to your 'friends'?" Tess questioned, and she nodded, thinking that the guard might have information on more that was going on.

The guard came with them willingly, and the more she listened to him talk, the more familiar he seemed. A realization dawned on her.

"You're Phil, aren't you?" she asked, recognizing the guard as the one that Joel had rendered unconscious around a year ago when they had escaped from the quarantine zone.

"Yeah, you actually remembered me," he seemed somewhat happy at this, and she laughed a bit. Tess rolled her eyes, but Ellie knew it was good-naturedly.

"So, where are we going again?" Phil asked; his eyes full of wonder as they entered the abandoned subway. Ellie had to admit that he seemed like the strangest guard she had ever seen.

"We're taking you to the Fireflies for interrogation," she informed him, knowing he wouldn't be able to get out of the Fireflies' main base to tell his friends. Phil looked strangely happy at her explanation.

"Oh, they never showed me this entrance before," he stated, making her somewhat shocked. He must have realized he said something he shouldn't have.

"Does that mean there's a spy among the Fireflies that let you in?" she asked, exchanging a glance with Tess. Phil looked extremely nervous at her questioning.

"No, it's just…" he sighed a moment later, mumbling, "I am going to be in so much trouble."

Ellie felt confusion run through her, but she decided the Fireflies would get to the bottom of this problem. She decided that she had enough excitement for one day.

As soon as they got through the entrance, she spied Joel, who looked somewhat shocked. He came over towards them, and Phil got extremely nervous.

"You need to keep an eye on her more; she seems to get into all sorts of trouble," Tess joked as he walked over to them. Joel shook his head, giving her an amused glance.

"Yeah, I know," Joel then turned his attention towards Ellie, "what happened?"

"I got into a bit of trouble," Ellie admitted, pointing back towards Phil, "We brought him back for interrogation. The other guy got my hairband though."

Joel sighed, looking up at the ceiling for a few moments.

"I'll find you another one, ok?" he stated, and she felt happiness run through her as she smiled at him.

Two of the Fireflies led Phil away, who now had a guilty expression on his face as the escorts looked at him. She thought the sight was slightly amusing.

Tess and Joel talked for a while. Ellie knew she had dozed when Joel shook her shoulder, waking her from her sleep. Tess had apparently left a long while ago.

"Tia wants to talk to us," Joel explained as she stood up, yawning. She waved to JC, who apparently had delivered the message.

"About what?" she questioned, following Joel into a side-room.

"No idea, but it seems urgent," he sat down in one of the chairs, and she followed. Tia came into the room a moment later, and Ellie hoped this wasn't going to be long; she felt exhausted from the past few days.

"Today's apparently been eventful," Tia started, nodding towards Ellie, "Phil has told us that much."

"The guard she brought back?" Joel questioned, and Tia nodded. Something seemed strange about the situation though.

"The thing is, Phil is actually a Firefly working undercover," Tia's words made shock run through her, and both her and Joel's eyes widened.

"What?" she asked, glancing at Joel and seeing that he was frowning slightly. Joel seemed to just recognize where they had met Phil before, and she instantly started laughing, not quite believing the situation.

Joel had an amused look on his face and Tia, who had a confused look on her face, seemed to not understand why she was laughing.

Ellie calmed down, figuring they might as well explain what the connection was.

"When we escaped the quarantine zone, Joel had to pass Phil out because we thought he was a guard," Ellie explained, and Tia smiled slightly.

"That explains it," she mumbled, and Ellie had to stop from laughing again.

There were a few moments of silence, and then Joel spoke what was on her mind.

"There seems to be something else," Joel prodded, and Tia nodded her head.

"Yes, as you know, the Fireflies main goal is to find a cure for the Cordyceps," Tia explained, "We need help finding that cure."

Both of them were silent, and Ellie didn't really know what to think.

_They want us to help find a cure?_ Her thought confused her even more, making her shake her head. Tia seemed to understand their confusion.

"Don't worry; it's nothing too big. I just want you to inform us of any new breakthroughs; that shouldn't be too hard considering Joel's occupation," she explained, leading them out of the room.

"Sounds easy enough," Joel commented, but Ellie thought it was the exact opposite.

Tia led them along the hallways of the base, finally coming to the sleeping quarters. She gave Joel a card, which was then used to open the door to the room. Tia then left them alone with their thoughts.

A few hours later, Ellie was sitting in the room the Fireflies had allowed them to stay in, watching Joel walk back and forth across the room. As promised, Joel had been able to find her another hairband when they got to the room, so her hair was now safely in its regular ponytail.

She had thought about going to sleep, but that wish had been extinguished as soon as they got into the room.

After a few more moments of staring at Joel walking around the room, she decided talking might help.

"I've got nothing," she stated, thumping back on the bed to look at the ceiling. She heard the pacing stop.

"I'm thinking on it," Joel answered, but thankfully did not start pacing again.

Ellie rolled onto her side on the bed, facing Joel who was standing a few feet across the room.

"They really thought we could find an answer?" Ellie asked with a sigh, "They are the ones who have scientists, or at least something close to it."

Joel didn't answer her; instead he was glancing at her backpack, where she had thrown it against the wall a half an hour ago. Following his gaze made her feel confused.

"What?" she asked, sitting up on the bed. Joel glanced at her for a moment.

"You still have the letter, right?" he asked as he started to walk towards the backpack.

"Yeah, front pocket. Why?" she asked, watching as he opened the pocket and took out the letter, reading it again.

"Just wondering," he muttered, seemingly lost in thought.

"Did you actually think I had memorized the whole thing by now?" Ellie asked him jokingly, and he shook his head.

"No, but it would have been helpful if something would have happened to it," Joel answered, placing the letter back into the backpack. Ellie plopped back onto the bed, scanning her mind through the part of the letter she had memorized.

"Immunity," she mumbled and Joel glanced over at her.

"What did you say?" he asked, coming to sit beside her on the bed.

"I have a tolerance to the Cordyceps, right?" she asked, making sure she was remembering correctly.

"Yes, but only twenty-five percent immunity now," Joel answered, but his expression was growing thoughtful.

"What if there was a way to analyze my blood and find a cure?" Ellie asked, trying to answer both questions at the same time.

"To cure the Infected and make a vaccine?" Joel prompted and at her nod continued, "I suppose it would be possible."

Ellie stared at the ground, feeling sadness wash over her.

"That would be great, wouldn't it?" she whispered, her sadness evident in her voice.

"Ellie, if we could cure the Infected, there is a low chance that your parents would be among them," Joel said softly, repeating the truth she knew, "if I would have known, I would have changed our plan of getting out of Boston in the first place."

Ellie shook her head, refusing to cry. She knew Joel was right, but they hadn't known.

"It's fine," she said, looking away from him, "They were never there anyway."

She heard Joel sigh beside her. She heard him take a deep breath and start to say something, but the door opened then, making him stop.

Phil walked into the room, wearing slightly normal clothes for once instead of the US military uniform he had been disguised in the first time they had seen him.

"Think of anything?" Phil asked hopefully, and Ellie exchanged a glance with Joel.

"Possibly," he answered, and Phil gave a nervous sigh.

"It's probably better than my idea," Phil said, shifting his weight between his feet nervously.

Ellie sometimes wished he wouldn't act like they were going to strangle him, although it was understandable since Joel had done exactly that around a year ago.

"You can go first," Ellie stated, wondering what he had come up with.

"Cloning," he sighed out his idea, and Ellie gave Joel an amused glance.

"Cloning what?" she asked, "the Infected?"

Phil gave a nod.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but if we could clone the Infected we might be able to study them and what causes the fungus," Phil stated, and Ellie had to admit it was both a great and dumb idea.

"So we would have Infected running around here trying to kill us, and you would be studying them?" Ellie asked, trying to contain her laughter. Phil's face turned white.

"Well, when you put it that way…" Phil glanced away, his face now red with embarrassment.

_That's one way to get caught by the US military and spoil things_, Ellie thought while trying to stifle another laugh.

"Or you could clone me?" Ellie asked, smiling this time, "Maybe having two Ellies wouldn't be so bad?"

"Then I would have two of you to look after," Joel said, an amused look on his face as he shook his head. Phil let out a nervous laugh.

"You said you guys thought you had an idea," Phil reminded them after Ellie contained her laughter, "What is it?"

Joel glanced at her, seeing if she was comfortable revealing their closely guarded secret. Ellie nodded her head.

"They probably already know, considering the letter my mom sent to them," Ellie said, remind Joel of another part of the letter.

"Ellie had a tolerance to the Cordyceps," Joel started glancing at her, "although it is slightly reduced due to the vaccine, she still has a sort of immunity."

"We were thinking that if you could analyze my blood, you might be able to find a cure," Ellie continued, "or at least try and develop a vaccine."

Phil had a thoughtful look on his face.

"That is way better than my idea," he stated, "Let's go tell the others."

As Ellie followed Joel out of the room, she felt a bit uncomfortable. Like she had thought earlier, the Fireflies probably already knew her 'secret', but revealing things that she kept guarded wasn't pleasant. Her hand went to her pocket and found her switchblade; not that she would need it, but it now felt something similar to security.

Ellie walked up and saw Phil talking excitedly to a man wearing a white lab robe. She cringed a bit, now realizing that he was one of the 'scientists'. The man had black hair with some gray strands in it and dark blue eyes. Glancing at Joel, she realized that the two looked similar.

"Ellie, Joel, this is Dave; he's one of the researchers helping to find a cure," Phil introduced them. She felt nervous again and resisted the urge to hide behind Joel.

"Hello," Dave said, shaking Joel's hand, "Phil has explained everything to me. He says that Ellie might be the cure we've been looking for."

She saw Joel nod, and she moved a bit so that she was behind him slightly. Dave was giving her a friendly smile, but everything inside of her was screaming that he wasn't friendly.

"We're just going to need to run a few tests to confirm what Phil has told me," Dave said, and Joel glanced down at her for confirmation.

"You ok with this?" he questioned, and she nodded, taking a calming breath.

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine," she answered, and was then led into one of the side rooms, away from Joel.

Ellie didn't pay much attention to what was going on; she stared at the ceiling and answered whatever questions came her way. Her heart was pounding throughout the whole ordeal.

She saw Dave pull out a machine that was attached to the ceiling, and he motioned for her to lie down on a white table in the middle of the room. She glimpsed computers and monitors set up in a corner of the room before she lied down, staring at the ceiling again.

"This is the second to last test, and then you'll be done," Dave informed her and she nodded, glad to know that the experience would be over soon.

"All this is going to do is take an x-ray of your brain," he explained, making her feel somewhat relaxed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the x-ray to be over.

Images started to flash painfully through her head, and she held it for a moment. She heard a door being opened, but didn't see it.

_"Ellie!"_ she heard Riley's voice in her head as her vision distorted again, the walls of the room becoming the ones she had run down with Riley when they were escaping from the military lab.

"Ellie, are you ok?" Joel's voice brought her out of her memories, and she nodded, feeling slightly on edge now.

Joel was in the room and Dave was standing right behind him, staring at the monitors for a moment before he walked over to join them.

"All that's left is to draw a small amount of blood," he explained, and Ellie felt her heartbeat increase when she spied the needle in Dave's hand. She backed away a bit, bumping into Joel, who had a worried look on his face.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" he asked Dave, who nodded as he brought the syringe down towards her arm.

"It's just going to be a little pinch," he informed her, and she nodded, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

_It's just a small needle; I've faced the Infected and hostile hunters, this should be-_ her thought was interrupted as she felt pain spike through her arm.

She pushed Dave away, landing on the ground. She saw Joel trying to talk to her, but she scrambled out of the way; out the door and through the hallways.

Her vision was distorted again, and fear was pumping through her as she ran. She came quickly upon the exit to the subway; Joel's shouts fading behind her as she made her way into the dark Boston night.

Rain hit her skin as she ran, and she stopped when lightning flashed across the sky. Panic entered her as she wondered where to go next.

_I can't go to Tess; she'll just bring me back there,_ her thoughts flew as she continued running, and she finally came to the secret exit they had used to get into the quarantine zone.

She stared at it, shaking her head as she went to sit inside of a pipe near the exit.

_I can't leave,_ she stared out at the rain pouring down, covering her face in her knees as she cried.

* * *

"Ellie, wait!" Joel shouted as her form retreated towards the exit. She didn't stop; if anything, his voice had made her run faster.

He started to make his way towards the exit, but Dave's voice made him stop.

"Wait! There's something you need to know," Dave had caught up to him, and the intrusion was starting to get on his nerves.

_I need to go after her,_ he thought, trying to be patient and hoping that the researcher would make his explanation quick.

"Ellie is immune to the fungus, but not in the normal way. She was infected, and the fungus mutated to a point where she is immune to it," Dave explained, "the fungal growth is centered on her Prefrontal Lobe."

"Short term memory," Joel mumbled, understanding why Ellie had short term memory problems now.

"The thing is, Ellie is immune to the Cordyceps for now…" Joel caught on to what Dave was saying.

"It could backfire and kill her," he finished, feeling worried and shocked at the news. Dave nodded, and Joel looked away.

"I need to go find her," he stated, heading towards the subway tunnels. He looked around, sighing when he wondered where she could be hiding.

Joel walked out to central Boston; the heavy rain clouding his vision slightly. He looked around, still not spotting her.

_Where could she be?_ He wondered, but then started running towards the secret hatch; _she wouldn't have left, would she?_

He came to the hatch, glancing around frantically for any sign of Ellie. The hatch didn't look like it was tampered with, so he figured she either left another way or was still in the quarantine zone. He sighed, feeling slightly helpless in not being able to find her.

He closed his eyes, opening them quickly a moment later when he heard a voice.

"Joel?" Ellie's voice was quiet, and he glanced over to see her sitting in a pipe. Her face was wet, and he assumed that she had been crying.

He walked over to the pipe, sliding in beside her. They sat in silence for a while, and Ellie suddenly looked over at him.

"I'm fine," she whispered, not very convincing. He shook his head.

"No, you're not," sometimes it was all someone needed; the truth laid right in front of them.

Ellie broke down crying, and he let her lean against him until she stopped. Her head was leaning on his shoulder, and he felt relieved that she seemed a bit calmer.

"What should I do?" she asked, looking up at him, her blue eyes radiating trust. He stared down at her and sighed.

"Whatever you think is best," he stated, and she glanced down at the ground, nodding a moment later.

Joel sat beside her until the sun started to rise, watching as she slept. The choice was Ellie's to make; question was, would she really sacrifice herself to find a cure? Joel hoped with all his heart that she wouldn't.

* * *

I actually think this is the second longest chapter of this fanfiction. Anyways, a lot of information and stuff was revealed in this chapter. Yay, Phil is back! He's actually a lot more important than at first glance (although we'll get back to that later). So, Ellie's tolerance might not be such a good thing in the first place (according to Dave). The chapters after this are going to be very eventful, and it might seem a bit fast, but this fanfiction is coming to a close sooner or later. Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	49. No Escape

**Rich-123 (Guest):** That is what they think so far. As this chapter highlights, they are trying to find different ways to make a cure.

**DarkerLights:** Yeah, nicknames would be cute! I'm not sure if I am going to be able to do that right now though (I'll explain in a few chapters why though).

**Soccerari0476:** Joel is helping the Fireflies try to find an alternate way to find a cure (considering he is the one who doesn't want Ellie to die the most). I will most likely be able to finish it sometime Thursday night (I want to get the epilogue out at midnight, but I'll see how much I have done by then).

**warfolomei: **More about their 'ease' out of the quarantine zone will be revealed in later chapters. Since majority of the fanfiction is in Ellie's POV, whenever she is 'hidden' (sort of like in some of the demos), she is not able to see much of what Joel is doing (hence her not seeing much of his 'ruthlessness' so far). Hopefully the next few chapters will start to show more depth into that.

* * *

Chapter 49: No Escape

Ellie sighed as she listened to Phil ramble on about how he had "been with them nearly every step across the United States". She didn't feel much like talking anymore, but she figured she at least owed him someone to listen.

"I was dismissed from guard duty after I failed to keep you two in the quarantine zone, but shortly after, I joined Tia and the others in following you. We were in Illinois, and it was my first time using one of those crossbows," she perked up a bit at his words.

"Really?" she questioned, and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I was sent back to the base after that and was put on guard duty though. They said I was a hazard to your guy's health," she laughed slightly at his words, wondering what he meant.

"Why were you sent home in the first place?" her question made him sigh, and he looked like he was a bit embarrassed.

"I accidently shot you with one of those needles," Ellie cringed slightly, remembering the pain the needle had caused.

"So when I heard someone say 'idiot'…"

"That was Tia scolding me," Phil finished, a defeated look on his face, "I'd like to help the Fireflies in any way I can, but sometimes I think I'm a burden."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she stated, looking at the door.

_Sort of like I am with Joel,_ she thought, frowning a bit.

Joel had something he had to attend to, so that left Phil in charge of her. She was currently waiting for him to get back, but the wait seemed forever.

Joel had also explained to her the 'negative side effects' of her tolerance, and the possible threat it posed to her life. He was now more determined to find a more stable cure, considering it might fix their problems.

Phil followed her gaze and caught her staring at the door. He frowned slightly in confusion.

"He'll be back soon," he stated, and she sighed, knowing he was right.

"I know; it just feels like forever," Phil's frown deepened at her comment, and he had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Maybe you are suffering from separation anxiety," he suggested, making her eyes widen.

"Phil, I'm already messed up enough! I don't need you pointing out the rest of my problems!" she shouted, and he cringed at her slight anger.

"Sorry, I just thought it was possible. You two have been traveling together for a year, so it's sort of like you're inseparable."

His comment made her pause, and she found the truth in his words. It was possible, but she still didn't like it.

"Can we go out into the quarantine zone?" she asked, feeling slightly cooped up and bored. Ever since she had run off, the Fireflies had been making sure to keep an eye on her. They tried to disguise it, but she could clearly see their motive.

"Uh…" Phil hesitated for a moment, but then saw the saddened expression on her face, "sure."

He led her out of the room and they walked through the subway. Ellie almost felt sorry for Phil for being able to be manipulated so easily.

She smiled when they got out of the tunnel, and she ran ahead towards the marketplace, wondering where Joel could be.

_Maybe I can find him,_ she felt excitement run through her as she maneuvered her way through the crowds of people, making it somewhat like a game. She heard Phil shouting from somewhere behind her, but she didn't slow down.

Her head darted around, looking for any sign of Joel. She stumbled out of the crowd a moment later when she didn't see him. Her vision started distorting a bit, and she walked into one of the side alleys to catch her breath.

She continued walking, thinking that Joel might have gotten called in for his 'occupation' and that she might find him in one of the alleys. She had long since lost Phil in the crowd behind her.

She came to a crossroads, but then felt something prick into her neck slightly. She pulled whatever it was out, recognizing it to something similar to the tranquilizer darts from the safe house. Her eyes widened and she swayed on her feet, her vision fading to black as she recognized the black uniforms of the military.

* * *

This is a shorter chapter, but I wanted to leave you with a cliffhanger. I might not be able to update until later today; I have a lot going on in the middle of the day so I will need to catch up on writing in the afternoon. Ellie is now captured by the military, and she has no idea where Joel is. Next chapter is going to be in Joel's POV (mostly), and will hopefully be longer (as there will be a rescue mission). Please tell me any thoughts or ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	50. Going In

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Thanks for the review! And yes, something like that.

* * *

Chapter 50: Going In

Ellie woke up to find herself in a completely white room. The only exit and entrance in the room seemed to be a steel door at the end of the room.

She stood up and looked around the room, wondering where she was. She felt her switchblade in her pocket, feeling a bit safer with it.

_Problem is that the rest of my stuff is back in the Fireflies' base, _she noticed that no one else was in the room.

The white walls seemed familiar, and she kept thinking back to the military lab she and Riley had escaped over a year ago.

She walked over towards the door and peeked out the small window, seeing guards outside of the room. Her hand went to her pocket, trying to think of a way out.

_I'm in a military lab, I know that much,_ she thought, frowning a bit,_ but why am I here?_

The door suddenly swung open, smacking her to the ground. Her vision swam for a moment from the blow, and she looked up from her position on the ground to see someone walk in. Her eyes widened in shock as the man walked closer to her, holding a single vial of red blood.

"This shouldn't hurt a bit," the man stated, a smile on his face, "and even so, you won't remember it long enough to tell anyone."

* * *

Joel was currently sitting across from Dave, thinking about what he had just been told.

"So, there's no other way that the cure can be created?" he asked, trying to confirm the answer.

"At least from what we know so far," Dave's answer made him sigh, and he started to think through the options.

"What about the temporary vaccine? Wouldn't that help?" his question prompted Dave to bring up some scans of the vaccine on the monitors of the room.

"It's possible. We are currently scanning the vaccine, but it seems that it was made with the blood of someone who was already infected," Dave's explanation made him look at the monitors.

_Rosanne maybe?_ He thought, but knew he wouldn't say her name out loud. It would take a while to explain to the Fireflies about her, and Ellie was waiting for him to get back.

Of course, Ellie was just in a room with Phil a few hallways down, but he knew how she could get when he wasn't present. He sighed, wondering if the urgency to get back to her was just him.

_Ellie's fine; Phil is perfectly capable of watching over her while I'm here,_ he thought, trying to reassure himself, but he was having a hard time of it. From what he heard from the other Fireflies, Phil still seemed like a newbie, even though he had been with the rebel group for a year now.

"I'll keep a lookout for something else," he said, starting to walk out of the room. Dave nodded, a serious expression on his face.

"I know how hard this must be for the both of you," Dave said, making him stop, "I'm here to help in any way I can."

"Thanks," Joel gave him a nod and left the room, heading towards where Ellie was with Phil.

_That guy's morals are almost too good; he acts like he still lives in the same world as twenty years ago,_ Joel shook his head;_ still, it's nice when someone is trying to help for once._

Someone bumped into him, and he was startled a bit. He relaxed when he realized it was just Phil, but then an alarm went off in him when he saw how nervous and frightened the young Firefly looked.

"Joel, I have no idea how to say this…" Phil looked away from him, a guilty expression on his face, "but I think Ellie's missing."

Joel paused for a moment, taking in what Phil had just said. He found it somehow unlikely.

"She's probably just hiding somewhere in the base," he shook his head, closing his eyes slightly. Ellie always seemed to be finding ways to follow him anymore.

_It's possible she's watching this right now,_ he thought, feeling somewhat amused.

"No, she's not. We went out into the quarantine zone and she went running for the marketplace. I think she wanted to look for you," Phil stated, making his eyes open again.

"Why were you in the marketplace with her if she was supposed to stay here?" Joel asked, a threatening tone to his voice. Phil seemed frightened; he took a step away from Joel.

"She wanted to go. She seemed really sad, and I didn't know what else to do," Phil replied nervously, "I think she might have a case of separation anxiety, but she got really mad when I told her that."

_She must have been looking for me;_ he shook his head, starting to walk down towards the subway.

"Oh, one more thing!" Joel started to feel his patience snap when Phil stopped him once more. He turned around and gave Phil a hard stare. Phil seemed to shrink, and his voice reflected his nervousness, "I think Ellie's been taken by the military."

He felt shock and anger stir up in him, making him walk faster. Turning around to yell at Phil wouldn't help find Ellie any faster.

_I am never letting him keep an eye on her again,_ he decided, arriving in the streets of the marketplace. He heard footsteps from behind him and turned around to see Dave running through the subway entrance.

"I just heard what happened from Phil," Dave explained, prompting him to nod, "I'm coming with you."

The man's statement made him somewhat confused. Dave seemed to see this.

"I said I was going to help in any way I can," he answered, making more sense as Dave started to lead Joel towards where the military lab was located, "and I have a feeling the military already know about Ellie's secret."

He frowned at the news, not quite understanding how the man's statement was possible.

"How would they know?" he asked, starting to sneak through the alleyways. He knew a shortcut that would lead them right to the lab.

"There's a rumor going around that a spy is among the Fireflies, secretly working for the government; I'm not sure if it's true, but this could confirm it," Dave said, and then continued, "Also, the vaccine has been taken as well."

Joel figured with the information that was presented, it seemed very likely that there could be a spy among the Fireflies, but the question was who?

He shook his head, only concerned about Ellie right then. They could let the Fireflies deal with whoever the spy was; they didn't need to get involved in something like that.

The lab was in front of them, and Joel knew that it would be harder getting in than usual.

_Especially if they do have Ellie._

Dave motioned for him to follow, and they snuck around the back of the building, finding a rusting door that was slightly open. They went through, and he saw that no one was there.

"I've been studying this lab for a while; always need to know the enemy," Dave explained, "these back corridors are abandoned most of the time and lead to the main rooms. Ellie should be held in one near the front."

"Why near the front?" he shook his head, not quite understanding the military's tactics.

_This is why I did not join the military,_ he thought, continuing to walk through the hallways.

"The most heavily guarded rooms are near the front. I don't know why; it's almost as if they've reversed what the military did in the past," Dave shook his head as well, "Maybe they're trying to be as different from the past military as possible?"

"That would explain some things," Joel muttered, stopping and crouching when he heard voices. He peeked out from behind the corner and saw two guards walking their way, talking idly.

He glanced over at Dave, seeing him aiming one of the crossbows at one of the guards. Joel snuck around a different route, cornering them off. Dave fired the needle into the one guard, attracting the attention of the other one. Joel ran forward and grabbed the second guard, smashing his head against the wall and leaving a dark red smear.

"That's one way to do it," Dave commented as he walked over towards Joel.

"We all have our ways of survival. Let's just find Ellie," Joel said, wondering what Ellie would think if she saw him acting like this.

Of course she had seen him take down enemies before, but he had tried to shield her from most of the horrible scenes afterwards.

They continued walking through the hallways, and Joel was surprised to see that no other guards were searching for them. Dave seemed to pick up on this.

"Most of the military is out patrolling the quarantine zone and stationed at checkpoints around this time," he explained, and then pointed up to one of the rooms up ahead, "Ellie should be in one of those."

Joel rushed forward, not really caring as much that he might be spotted. Luckily no guards were present, and he peeked into each of the windows above the doors to try and find Ellie.

He saw a glimpse of her through the third window he checked; he started ramming into the door to try and get it open. He swore when it wouldn't budge. He pulled out a pocket knife and started to work on the lock.

"I'll cover you," Dave stated, noticing what he was doing.

Time slowed down, and Joel was finally able to open the lock. He threw the door aside, worry filling him when he saw Ellie lying face down on the floor. He ran over to her, shaking her shoulder.

"Ellie!" he stated, looking up when Dave came into the room.

"Joel, we need to hurry. More will be coming," Dave informed him, and he nodded, starting to pick Ellie up. He stood up but froze when she stirred a bit.

"Joel?" her whisper was weak, and he looked down to see her blue eyes open slightly. She seemed out of it and a bit confused.

"I'm here," he mumbled, starting to walk out of the room behind Dave. He spotted the vaccine on a table nearby and grabbed it, rushing out after Dave. They started to retrace their steps back to the rusted door.

Joel felt relief when he spotted the door, but alarm rushed through him when he heard shouts from behind them. They both looked back, and he recognized the guard's voices coming from the other hallways.

"Go! I'll hold them off!" Dave shouted, readying his crossbow. When Joel hesitated, he continued, "Ellie's safety is more important right now!"

Joel nodded, not wanting to leave the man behind but knowing what he was saying was true. He looked one last time at the scientist and bolted for the Fireflies' base, feeling somewhat nostalgic. The smile that Dave had given him had reminded him of his brother a bit.

He was just getting to the entrance of base when Tia and Phil came rushing into the subway. He stopped and put Ellie down; she was starting to stir a bit more.

"Where were you?" Tia demanded, somewhat angry. Phil seemed somewhat surprised when he saw Ellie, and Joel felt confused.

"The military had Ellie and the vaccine; Dave and I went to the lab to get Ellie out," Joel handed Tia the vaccine, but continued at their confused faces, "Didn't Dave tell you about the military capturing her?"

Both Tia and Phil shook their heads, and Joel felt shock run through him. No backup was coming, so that meant that…

_Dave is gone;_ his shock at the thought was more than he would have originally thought. The researcher had sacrificed himself in order for Joel to get Ellie back to the Fireflies.

He saw Ellie stand up and went to help her, knowing that the Fireflies had reached the same conclusion as he had. Ellie leaned against him, somewhat dazed.

"What happened?" she mumbled, giving him a slightly confused look.

"The military took you. Don't you remember?" he asked, and she shook her head, growing even more confused.

"No… at least I don't think so…" she trailed off, but then her hand went to her head as she let out a pained noise.

Joel's eyes widened, not sure of what to do. He waited for a few moments, seeing that her breathing had quickened a bit.

"Ellie, are you ok?" he asked, and she shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

"No, I feel like my head is splitting in two," she muttered, still clutching her head.

The list of side-effects from her tolerance went through his head, and he was starting to recognize some of them, either from now or when they were searching for the Fireflies.

Her forehead was now pressed against him slightly, and pained noises were still coming from her. His shirt started to get wet, and he realized that she was crying.

He sighed, feeling completely helpless as he watched her. He put his one hand at the back of her head, and his other hand went to rub her back slowly. He wasn't really sure how to comfort her, but he knew that he didn't like to see her in pain.

"Is she-?" Phil started to ask, but Joel cut him off with a shake of his head. He motioned for them to head into the base.

Phil was reluctant at first, but a light smack on the head from Tia got him moving.

Ellie's breathing slowed a bit after a while, and her shaking subsided. He let her stay in the same position, thinking that it helped a bit.

"Feeling any better?" he asked, and she looked up at him. One look at her, and he realized how exhausted she was.

"A bit," she mumbled, her eyes struggling to stay open. He picked her up again, carrying her back to the room inside the base.

Joel laid her on one of the beds, and Ellie was asleep almost instantly. He stayed up long after she had fallen asleep; wanting to make sure no one took her away again.

* * *

Ellie is now back safe in the Fireflies' main base, but Dave's current location and status is unknown. More will be revealed in the next chapter! Sadly, this fanfiction will be ending soon (but with its end will come the release of the game). Next chapter is the "game title" chapter (you'll see what I mean when I release it tomorrow). Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	51. The Last of Us

**DarkerLights:** You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoy it! :)

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Yep and this chapter will hopefully explain more.

* * *

Chapter 51: The Last of Us

A week had passed since Joel had been able to get Ellie back from the military. The researchers kept studying the vaccine, but no new breakthroughs were made.

They had failed to find any trace of Dave; he was now missing and presumed dead by the Fireflies. Joel wished he would have been able to help more. What the researcher had said was true, but it didn't make him feel any better.

_Sort of like when I had to leave David,_ his thought didn't give him any comfort; it only brought back unwanted enemies.

The researchers were getting antsy; the Fireflies main goal was to create a cure to the Cordyceps, and he knew it was getting hard for them to find an alternate cure when the easiest route was inside of their base. He was afraid that they would take matters into their own hands.

All of these factors and more are what made Joel decide that they needed to leave; mostly for Ellie's protection though. He finished packing and shouldered his backpack, looking over to see Ellie sitting on the bed, silent for once.

"Something bothering you?" he asked, walking over to her. He knew they had to leave soon before the Fireflies woke up, but he wanted to make sure she saw the purpose for them leaving.

"I just feel bad leaving like this," she answered, staring at the floor. Her gaze then met his, "What if I am really the only cure? How can we help them if we leave?"

"You aren't the only way to find a cure," he lied, not wanting her to worry. Dave had said that Ellie was the only way to find a cure, but Joel wasn't convinced.

_There has to be other ways;_ he hoped, for both of their sakes.

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad; at least if I die, then it would be helping them," her gaze fell to the floor again, "I'm most likely going to die anyway, considering the tolerance isn't such a good thing anymore."

Joel sighed, not liking Ellie's train of thought. He wanted to get away from the Fireflies so no one would decide to kill her in the first place.

"I guess I haven't been a great role model," Ellie glanced up at him at his words, slightly confused until he continued, "You're getting suicidal now."

She let out a small laugh, smiling a bit. He smiled back as she stood up.

"Alright, I'm ready to go," she nodded, starting to follow him towards the door. The one thing they didn't have was the vaccine, but they didn't have time to get it from the researchers' area of the base.

He opened the door and looked out. Seeing no one in the hallways, he motioned for Ellie to follow him. There was nowhere for them to hide if they did get spotted, but Joel figured there were certain ways to get them out of those kinds of situations.

_Even if she doesn't necessarily like it,_ he glanced back at Ellie for a moment before continuing down the hallway.

Humming was coming from down the hallway, and Joel noticed Phil. He was about to motion for Ellie to head back the way they had come, but Phil noticed them and waved, starting to walk towards them.

_Might have to pass him out again,_ he thought, glancing down at Ellie when she tapped his shoulder.

"We can trust him," she whispered, almost as if she knew what he had been thinking. He nodded, noticing Phil a few feet away.

"Are you guys going for a walk too?" Phil asked, a smile on his face. Joel sometimes found it amusing how naïve Phil seemed to act sometimes, and he could tell Ellie thought the same thing. He was about to lie, but remembered what Ellie had told him. He trusted her, so he knew she wasn't lying to him.

"Phil, we need to leave," Ellie answered, walking forward a bit. Phil's face turned to one of confusion.

"How come? Is someone trying to kick you out? I can deal with it if so," Phil questioned, and she shook her head.

"No one is trying to kick us out, it's just-" Joel interrupted her for a moment, knowing she was dragging things out a bit.

"There is a spy among the Fireflies. I don't believe that this is the safest place for her, considering that some of the researchers would be more than happy to take the easy route to the cure," Joel explained, and Phil's expression turned sad.

"So, you're just going to leave then?" Phil asked, worry on his face. Joel figured that he was taking this harder than necessary.

"We have to. If Ellie is going to be safe, it most likely won't be here," he stated, knowing he was being a bit straightforward, but time was running out. The commotion that they were making would soon alert the other Fireflies.

Joel started to walk past Phil, and Ellie followed behind him. He heard her stop, and he turned around, seeing her whisper something to Phil. Phil nodded, and then looked at Joel.

"I won't tell anyone where you guys are going. I guess that would alert the spy if I did, so your secret is safe," Phil said, and Joel nodded. He then continued, "Also, the Fireflies are planning on attacking the military squad stationed near the run-down plane in two days. If you want to get away from the quarantine zone unnoticed, then that would be the best time to do it."

"Why didn't we know about that?" Ellie asked, glancing up at him from where she was standing beside him.

"Tia was planning on telling you in the morning, but…" Phil left off, motioning towards the exit, "The others will be getting up soon, so I would suggest that you start moving."

Joel nodded, and Ellie waved to Phil before they set off again. In a few minutes, they were walking through the subway and into Boston. The sky had lightened just a bit from its usual pitch darkness at night, so that gave them plenty of cover. Not so much time, but it was more than they could have hoped for originally.

He felt Ellie's hand slip into his and he glanced down at her. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn't quite get it out.

"What is it?" he asked, stopping in the streets. Small lights flickered on and then died out a moment later, repeating the pattern to ensure an uneasy source of light.

She looked like she was debating about something for a moment, and then spoke.

"I have an idea of where we can stay for the day," she said, and he nodded, letting her lead him by hand.

They walked through the streets and came to a house. Joel recognized it as the one that Ellie had stayed in before they had started traveling. He felt her hand squeeze his slightly and he looked down at her. She was asking for confirmation, and he nodded.

Ellie led him into the house, not needing any lights. He figured she had a map of the place in her head. They walked through a hallway, and she led him into a room.

"You can have your own room," she announced, and he glanced around, seeing a bed with worn sheets on it, as well as a few drawers.

Ellie left a moment later, letting him get settled. He sat down on the bed, feeling somewhat nostalgic as he looked around the room.

_It feels the closest to a home that I've felt for a long while,_ he thought, setting his backpack down beside the bed.

He stood up, looking around the corner of the door to see another room. The door was cracked open slightly, and he opened it.

Ellie looked over from where she was sitting on the bed when he walked in. He looked around the room, seeing various posters as well as a red/dark pink theme to the room.

"Is this your room?" he questioned as he sat beside her on the bed, and she nodded, looking around her.

"It seems kind of weird being back here," she shook her head, moving on; "We can stay here for the day. There's a lot of stuff around here that we could use."

He nodded, seeing that her thoughts were someplace else. A thought came into his mind, but he wasn't sure if it would bother her or not if he voice it.

"Does being back here make you think of your mom?" he asked, and she nodded, leaning against his shoulder. He let her stay like that for the rest of the night, and into the early morning.

The rest of the day was spent looking through the supplies in the abandoned house, as well as making sure the military didn't find them here. Ellie said that the military never checked the house, and that was one of the main reasons why she had been able to stay in it undetected for so long. He still didn't feel very convinced, but he took her word for it.

They left the house after it was dark, heading for the hidden hatch out of the quarantine zone. Joel didn't want to try and sneak out of the gate like last time; that had caused hidden trouble.

_It seemed easier than normal,_ he thought, but didn't dwell too much on the idea. The important thing had been that they had gotten out of the quarantine zone without getting detected, and that had been the starting point of their journey.

He held open the hatch for Ellie and then crawled through, bolting it shut so no one could sneak through it to follow them.

Ellie started to walk off towards the woods, but Joel pointed to the opposite direction. She gave him a confused expression, prompting him to explain.

"It might be easier to head south for now. We don't want the Fireflies following our original trail again," she nodded at his explanation, and they set off through the slightly more open area.

Ellie stopped walking and he saw her look back at the Boston quarantine zone for one last time.

"So, now we are the Last of Us," she stated, making him somewhat confused.

"The Last of Us?" he repeated, seeing complete seriousness on her face. She nodded.

"We aren't a part of the hunters, we aren't infected, and we aren't a part of a quarantine zone or the military. That makes us the Last of Us," she said, looking at him.

_The Last of Us. I guess that makes sense,_ he nodded, seeing what she meant.

"Let's get going," his comment a moment later made her gaze meet his, and she nodded.

They set off into the night, leaving the safety of the quarantine zone behind them as they trekked south.

* * *

I always thought Ellie would be the one to do the "game name quote" (something pertaining to the Last of Us), so I thought this was a good chapter. Joel and Ellie have left the quarantine zone for the second time, leaving behind the Fireflies and hopefully trying to keep Ellie safe. Although how safe can you be when you are confined to one land mass? (Considering that they would most likely be found at some point, as well as the ever-persistent problem of the Infected) Please tell me what you thought in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	52. A Hidden Threat

Chapter 52: A Hidden Threat

A day of walking didn't get them too far away; Ellie kept having 'headaches' and they had to stop more often because her energy would deplete quicker.

Early the next morning found them hiding behind a slab of rock; their temporary camp only a ways behind them. US military guards were scouring the area below them, and Joel had no idea how they were going to get through.

_There's too many of them, and if we try and go around, they'll catch us,_ he glanced at Ellie, who was trying to also find a solution to their problem.

"What if we just wait until they move on?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"That would take too long. We don't want anyone tracking us," she saw the truth in his explanation.

Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she looked out across the landscape, and he followed her gaze, seeing flecks of yellow mixed in with the landscape.

_That can't be…_ he thought, his eyes widening when the answer popped into his head.

"The Fireflies?" Ellie asked, and he nodded to confirm, "But what are they doing all the way out here?"

"Phil said there was going to be a battle, so either he gave us the wrong place, or the military was relocated," he explained, and she looked down at the Fireflies and then at the military.

"Why would the military come here though? There's nothing here they could be interested in," she mumbled, and he knew she was right.

"What if the spy could have told them of the attack, but scouts from the Fireflies could have found their new location?" he suggested, and she nodded, figuring they would go with that.

"We might just have to wait them out," Joel sighed, knowing how time consuming it would be, "Either that, or wait until they start fighting."

Ellie took a deep breath beside him, and he glanced over to see her start to rummage through her backpack. Her eyes widened and she looked over at him.

"What?" he asked, not understanding her alarm. She hesitated for a moment before answering.

"I forgot the pistol back at the last camp site," she answered, and he sighed, not sure of how to react.

Of course the pistol was special to him since it was his brother's, but he couldn't hold onto it forever.

"It's alright," he stated, but she shook her head, standing up.

"I'm going to go get it," she announced, starting to walk back towards the tree-filled area where their last camp was, "I'll be back soon."

He stopped her when he grabbed her wrist.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go alone," he said, looking her in the eyes. She looked away, pulling her switchblade out of her pocket.

"Here, to help keep you safe while I'm gone," the gesture was somewhat of a joke, but he knew she meant it, "I won't be gone long."

Joel watched her figure retreat back into the trees, and then set his sights on the coming battle.

Ellie walked through the trees, somewhat happy that Joel let her go alone.

_I know he cares, but I'll be fine,_ she thought, glancing at the trees as she walked.

She came to the camp and smiled, seeing the pistol lying beside the now-burnt out fire they had built the night before.

She bent down and picked it up, checking for ammo. Her eyes widened when she realized that the gun was empty.

_I could have sworn I at least had a few bullets;_ she frowned, but stood up, starting to walk back towards Joel.

She didn't know whether to trust her memory or not this time; her memory had seemed to start to be affected again when they had set out of the quarantine zone. She wouldn't tell Joel for fear of him worrying.

Pain sliced through her arm, and she stifled a scream, not wanting to alert the other groups that they were near. She looked over and her eyes widened when she saw a needle lodged in one of the trees.

Her hand went to her arm and was instantly red when she pulled it away. She glanced around; knowing a gun with no bullets wouldn't help much, especially if someone was attacking her from the shadows.

_Although my attacker doesn't need to know that I don't have any bullets,_ she thought, holding tight onto the pistol as she looked around.

She didn't see anyone, and had just started to relax when something hard hit the back of her head, sending her to the ground.

The edges of her vision were just turning black as she held onto the pistol, feeling herself being dragged away before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Ellie is now separated from Joel again, but by whom? Was it a Firefly who attacked her, or the military? Or is it someone completely apart from the two groups? The next chapter will reveal the main antagonist, as well as more information about Ellie and Joel's pasts. This fanfiction will be ending very soon (so you can expect the epilogue at midnight). Please tell me your thoughts and ideas in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	53. The Past Comes Back to Haunt

**LittleSlytherin394:** Haha, yeah when is Joel ever going to learn? I'm at a yes/no standpoint as well, considering I want the game to come out but I don't want my fanfiction to end. I am going to explain more on later fanfictions for the Last of Us on the last chapter (epilogue), which will be released at midnight tonight.

**Rich-123 (Guest):** Haha, yeah Ellie needs to stop attracting trouble. :)

* * *

Chapter 53: The Past Comes Back to Haunt

Ellie groaned as she woke up. Her vision was fuzzy and she felt somewhat lightheaded. Her arm ached and she glanced over to see blood running from it.

She glanced around, seeing she was in some kind of abandoned shack. Her eyes settled on a figure that she recognized.

"Joel?" she mumbled, blinking her eyes a few times as she felt her mind clear a bit.

"Hm… having a bit of memory problems now, are we?" she recognized the voice and her eyes widened, "Although people did used to say that I looked like him a lot."

She felt her breath leave her at the sight of the figure on the other side of the room.

"Dave?" she asked, wondering how he had gotten out of the military lab.

Dave looked very similar to Joel, more similar than she had first thought, but now had similar features of a Runner. Little trails of the fungus surrounded his eyes, making her have to look away.

"This must be all so confusing for you," Dave said with a shake of his head, "You see, Dave is only a nickname for me."

She didn't understand what he meant. The more she stared at him though, the more things started coming back to her.

"You're Joel's brother," she whispered, her eyes widening in shock, "David."

Dave let out a laugh, mockingly clapping for her.

"Now you've got some of it," he encouraged, "Can you remember anything else?"

She started to back away from him a bit; a tug on her wrist made her look down when she couldn't move any further. A metal chain was wrapped tightly around her wrist and was tied to an old heater.

She shook her head, starting to feel her memories resurface. Her head started to hurt again as the images flashed through her mind.

_The man… at the lab…_

"You're the man from the military lab when I was with Riley," the realization dawned on her, "You're the spy among the Fireflies. You knew about my tolerance all along."

Dave smiled, not the friendly smile he had at the quarantine zone, more like a menacing smile of someone who knows they have won.

"It's strange. It seemed to take everyone a while to catch on to the bait, but I guess it has been twenty years," he said, starting to walk towards her.

She glanced at him, feeling fear run through her. She tugged hard at the chair around her wrist, only causing her more pain. A thought made her stop her efforts to get free.

"Do you know what happened to Riley?" she asked, feeling some dread in the pit of her stomach.

"Where would the fun in guessing be if I told you?" he questioned, making her want to somewhat cry.

_He knows and he won't tell me._

"Joel said you were infected and died. How come you're still alive?" she asked, hoping to stall time until she could get free.

_Either that or Joel realizes that I'm missing,_ the thought gave her some hope, considering Joel would realize after a while that she was missing.

"He was right about one thing; I was infected, but I did not die," Dave stopped his walking, pacing somewhat instead, "You and I are similar. We have gained some control over the fungus infecting us. I was able to fight back; I didn't want to leave everyone I loved behind, and that gave me strength to fight against the fungus. It worked, but with some… side effects."

He motioned towards her.

"I assume you know what I'm talking about with your short-term memory issues and all," he stated, somewhat taunting her.

"Now though, after all this time, I will finally be able to make him pay," Dave's comment made her confused, even more so when she realized that he was talking about Joel.

"What do you have against Joel?" she questioned, leaning forward a bit from her kneeling position on the ground, "He's your brother."

"He left without a second thought when I was infected," the comment made her freeze, not believing him.

"Joel wouldn't just…" she started to say, shaking her head, but Dave cut her off.

"If he would have really cared, then he would have helped somehow! He could have come back!" Dave shouted, and she flinched slightly, realizing that his hatred for his brother ran deep. He frowned at her, "Do you really think Joel would have cared about you when he first met you? He would have abandoned you, just like he did to me."

She felt sadness run through her at Dave's words; she knew it was the truth, but their bond had come a long way since first leaving Boston over a year ago. A thought appeared in her head, and she felt like asking it since it was confusing her.

"Why capture me though if you want your revenge on Joel? What do I have to do with this?" she asked, backed up against the heater now.

Dave smiled, turning and walking towards her while pulling something from his pocket.

"You're the one thing that Joel actually cares about anymore," he answered, making her freeze at what he said next, "If I get rid of what he cares about most, then it would be worse than dying for him."

She remembered Joel's words back in Arizona:

_"There are things a person can do to you that are worse than death. Taking away family, a friend, someone you care about; it's all suffering that makes you want to die."_

"The Infected do enjoy the scent of your blood, and I personally don't blame them. It's a mixture of what they used to be, and what they are now. Something that they wished they could become: immune to the very fungus that has taken over their minds. The trail of your blood will attract the Infected, and get Joel's attention as well."

She shook her head, feeling fear course through her. She pointed at the syringe in Dave's hand, seeing light red liquid.

"What is that?" she asked, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. Dave smiled down at the syringe and then looked up at her, holding it close to her face so that she could see it.

"This is a mixture of that vaccine you gave to the Fireflies and a vial of your blood. Call it a stimulus, if you will," each word that came out of his mouth made her fear increase, "This liquid will make the fungus in your brain mutate more, but it's your choice to make: whether the fungus will overgrow and kill you, or if this liquid will help to get rid of it."

She took in a sharp breath as he started injecting the liquid into her arm, making her vision turn red slightly as her head started pounding. Pained noises left her mouth as she pressed her forehead against the ground.

_It's worse than that other liquid from the military lab,_ she thought as her breathing rate increased.

"See, isn't that better?" Dave's voice came to her as if she were underwater; it made an echoing in her head that just made her headache worse. She shook her head, feeling immense pressure inside of it.

Dave just stood there watching and smiling as she cried out in pain.

* * *

Gunshots erupted from the clearing below, but not like in a normal way. The shots were well-place; single shots ringing out from time to time as each side made use of their scarce resources.

Joel looked behind him in the direction of the camp, and where Ellie hopefully was. He waited for a few more moments, and then decided that it would be better if he went with her. According to his standards, she had been gone for far too long.

_She's going to be mad,_ a little voice in the back of his head warned, but he didn't care; after all the trouble Ellie seemed to get herself in, he wanted to make sure she was alright.

He shook his head, arriving at the camp. Worry and fear ran through him when he didn't see Ellie. The pistol was gone, so that either meant that she had gotten herself lost, or that something was wrong.

He turned around, spying a needle sticking out of a tree. His eyes widened as he saw a clear trail of blood coating the grass underneath of the needle.

_Something is definitely wrong,_ alarms went off in his head, and he ran after the blood trail, conscious of Ellie's switchblade in his pocket._ I should have never taken it in the first place._

He took a deep breath when he stopped, seeing an abandoned shack where the blood trail led; the wood falling apart and rotting away at certain segments.

_She's in there;_ he walked up to the door, opening it a moment later.

Only a small light source was present on a side table in the corner of the room, and he instantly spotted Ellie lying on the floor unconscious.

"Ellie!" he shouted, starting to walk over towards her, but stopped when the door was slammed shut and locked behind him.

He whipped around, feeling surprise when he saw Dave.

_He's infected,_ Joel realized, taking in the fungus starting to grow on the Firefly researcher's face. The sight seemed too familiar to him, and he shook his head, ridding himself of the memory.

"Dave, why is Ellie here?" he asked, and Dave gave him a smile.

"Her time is up Joel," Dave answered, sounding bitter towards him, "She has to decide for herself whether she will ever wake up again."

Dave's words sent alarm and worry through him, making him feel some kind of protective instinct for the girl he had been traveling with. He started to inch towards her a bit, but Dave saw his movement.

"There's nothing you can do to help her Joel. She is alone this time, just like you left me."

Joel shook his head, not quite understanding what the researcher meant. Dave had told him to get Ellie back to the base, so he couldn't be bitter about that.

_Unless…_ Joel continued to stare at Dave, until his features became more familiar to him. The realization left him breathless.

"David?" he whispered, feeling shock run through him. Dave smiled menacingly.

"It's kind of insulting Joel, that you wouldn't remember your own brother after all this time," David stated, making Joel's guilt resurface a bit.

_He's angry, and he's had twenty years to feed that anger,_ Joel shook his head.

"David, how did you survive?" he asked, and his brother looked down at Ellie.

"You know, she asked a similar question not so long ago." The statement made him somewhat angry.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded, motioning towards Ellie. David laughed mockingly, almost sounding bitter.

"I'm only showing you what it's like when the only person you care about abandons you," Joel's breath caught in his throat at his brother's words.

"You told me to go-" he started, but couldn't finish as he shook his head.

"Yes, that part is true, but if you would have really cared, then you would have stayed or come back," David retorted, making Joel feel somewhat worse.

_Would he be like this if he would have died, or even been fully infected?_ His thought made him wonder, but he knew he would never know the answer.

"Right around now, the Infected will have been drawn to the scent of her blood, coming upon the Fireflies and military," David's words made a realization dawn on him.

"It was a trap all along," he muttered, and then glared at his brother, "Why are you doing all of this?"

"You still don't understand, do you? I was able to control the fungus because I didn't want to leave the only person left that needed my help to survive, and I wake up, figuring out that you abandoned me!" David shouted, anger clearly present.

"I didn't have a choice!" Joel shouted back, not sure of what to do. His own brother had been plotting against him this whole time. David smiled suddenly, almost like he knew something that Joel didn't.

"I never really thought Rosanne would have been able to resist the Cordyceps in order to help you though. She actually made this perfect though. You wouldn't have cared if I would have killed that girl before you started your journey together and now that she is the only one that matters…" David left off, and Joel felt his anger rise.

"You can't put the past behind you; that was always your problem!" Joel shouted, realizing his mistake a moment too late.

David came running towards him, fueled by anger almost like the Infected were fueled by the need to spread the fungus. Joel pulled Ellie's switchblade out, not wanting to hurt his brother but needing to defend himself.

His brother's weight combined with the speed he had been running at made Joel fall to the ground as his brother's sharp nails dug into his skin. Joel wrestled himself free, backing away from his brother as he stood up.

"David, I don't want to hurt you," he stated, putting sincerity into his words. His efforts to try and reach his brother only served to fuel the anger however.

"You don't want to hurt me?" David asked, almost ravenous, "You're twenty years too late for that!"

Joel braced himself for another attack, but felt alarmed when he saw David run towards Ellie instead.

_Her blood is drawing him. He's partially infected, and now the fungus is trying to gain full control of him,_ the realization made him run until he was blocking his brother's path to Ellie, knowing what his brother would do if he reached her.

A terrible screeching sound came from his brother's throat as he lunged forward, attacking him again. Joel was now up against a wall; his only weapon being Ellie's switchblade.

Without another thought, he plunged the switchblade deep into David's neck; blood coming from the impact. David backed up, a chocking noise coming from him as he clutched at his throat. The switchblade was in Joel's hand, but it had already done its fatal damage.

Joel watched as David fell to the ground; his brother's breaths become slower until they ceased. The tense moment died down, and Joel stood up as he stared at his brother's body.

David was now truly, and finally, gone.

* * *

We only have two more chapters to go now (meaning next chapter is the second to last chapter)! David (Dave) was the spy for the Fireflies, setting the whole journey of Ellie and Joel into motion as he was fueled by rage and the need for revenge. Sorry if it seemed a bit confusing that in Ellie's POV (and the first part of Joel's) I used Dave, but then switched to using David in the second half of Joel's POV. I thought it was necessary, since Joel was viewing Dave as his brother, but Ellie still knew him as the Firefly researcher. Please tell me your thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	54. Happy Endings Are Real

**Rich-123 (Guest):** The Infected were attracted by the scent of Ellie's blood, but attacked the military and Fireflies since they were in the way. Sorry if I didn't clear that up.

**DarkerLights:** Sorry! Don't worry; I'll explain more about fanfictions for this archive in the next chapter (it will hopefully make you happy)!

* * *

Chapter 54: Happy Endings Are Real

Joel dropped to Ellie's side, feeling worry slice through him when he realized her breathing was shallow.

"Ellie, wake up!" he shouted, shaking her a bit.

He saw a chain bound to her wrist and cut it with her switchblade, slipping it into his pocket a moment later.

"Ellie!" he shouted again, not getting a response. He turned her over so that she was leaning against him. Her eyes were shut, and tear stains were making lines down her face.

_What did he do to you?_ Joel glanced back at his brother's dead body and then down at Ellie.

"Ellie, can you hear me?" he asked, hoping for an answer. She didn't respond, and he searched for a heartbeat, realizing that she was getting weaker.

Joel didn't know what to do; David had said that Ellie was alone, but he didn't want to just sit by and watch her die.

_Maybe that's what he was doing all along; maybe he has won._

He glanced down at Ellie's face and realized that she had become still in his arms.

"I don't want you to leave," he whispered, feeling his throat close a bit, "You're like a daughter to me."

Joel never would have thought that he would have said those words to anyone, especially when they had first started traveling together. He had just wanted the journey to be over, but now he felt a close bond to her.

"No matter what he said; you're not alone Ellie. I'm right here," he whispered, watching as her form blurred.

He bent his head and wept.

* * *

Ellie felt herself falling; she was covered in darkness and she felt cold. The pain in her head was lessening, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

_Joel,_ she wanted to talk, but couldn't. Loneliness swept through her as tears trickled down her face, _I'm afraid._

"Ellie, can you hear me?" Joel's voice penetrated through some of the fog, and she wanted to answer back, "I don't want you to leave."

_Joel, I don't want to leave either! I want to keep traveling with you!_ She couldn't voice her thoughts, making her tears fall faster when she realized there was now a void between them.

She was losing and alone, like she had been all her life until she had met Joel. His face appeared in her mind.

_I'm sorry Joel. I can't win._

"No matter what he said; you're not alone Ellie. I'm right here."

Joel's voice gave her comfort, and she thought through his words. Something Dave said came back to her, giving her strength. She reached out towards Joel, trying to fight back.

Ellie opened her eyes, feeling a slight headache. She saw Joel above her with tears in his eyes. Shock was reflected on his face.

"Joel?" she whispered, not sure if the fungus was messing with her head by making her see things. She felt him help her sit up, and knew that this was no longer a dream.

A moment later, she was leaning against Joel as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She had never felt so safe before. She felt him take a calming breath.

"What happened?" she asked, seeing something lying on the ground before Joel blocked her view.

"David took you. He's gone now," Joel whispered, and she felt sad somehow.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, not sure of what to say, "I didn't want it to end like this."

Joel seemed somewhat shocked that she knew about Dave being his brother, but she saw him smile.

"I got something more important to me back though," he stated, making her smile. She laughed for a moment, feeling happier than she had in her whole life.

"You were dead, so what happened?" Joel questioned, and she could feel his curiosity.

"Dave said something about having something to fight against the fungus for," she explained, looking up at him, "I didn't want to leave you."

They were both silent for a moment, and Ellie felt slightly embarrassed; her gaze fell to the ground.

"What about the Fireflies?" she asked, glancing up at him. He helped her stand, and she leaned against him for support.

"The battle is apparently over. I have no idea if anyone won. David wanted to lure the military and Fireflies there as a trap," Joel explained, "but I have a feeling that we will be seeing them again."

Ellie nodded, letting Joel help her out of the shack. He handed her backpack to her, letting her slide it on while making sure she didn't fall over from exhaustion. The pistol was tucked safely inside, and she figured she would cherish it for a long time to come.

_A keepsake,_ the thought made her glance over at Joel and smile.

"Dave said something about me choosing if the fungus would take over…" she started, getting a glance from Joel.

"So-" he started to say, but she cut him off with a shake of her head, knowing what he was going to ask.

"Yep, the tolerance is gone," she said with a smile, "I'm now one-hundred percent, normal Ellie."

Joel smiled at her comment, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"That's good. I wouldn't want to explain to everyone I meet how might daughter might forget about them after a few moments," Joel's statement made her freeze, and he bent down to give her a smile, "You think I would let you head back to the boarding school after this?"

She shook her head, feeling happiness flood through her. Tears started falling, but for once they were tears of happiness and joy. Joel saw this and smiled.

"I always thought happy endings were only for fantasies, but…" she shook her head, not being able to continue.

"Come on," Joel motioned to the landscape in front of them, "We have a long way back to Boston."

She followed right beside him, smiling as she kept pace with him.

"Not as long as a year though," she joked, feeling happy when he laughed.

"Definitely not as long as a year," he agreed, looking down at her.

Ellie didn't mind if they had a while to walk, she would gladly enjoy the time, traveling anyplace Joel wanted to; just like the beginning of their journey.

* * *

Aww, cute happy ending! It's not the complete ending yet though! Next chapter is the epilogue (in first person Ellie POV)! Please tell me your thoughts in a review!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


	55. Epilogue

**LittleSlytherin394:** I've been waiting to write that moment since I started this fanfiction :)

**DarkerLights:** Sorry, it must end sometime. Although if you are interested, I listed some of the other fanfictions I am going to write at the end of this chapter (as well as a potential sequel)!

* * *

Epilogue

It has been about a month since Joel and I returned to the Boston quarantine zone; ironically being the start of our journey together over more than a year ago.

Joel had been right when he had said we had a long way back to Boston, but I hadn't minded. We had been traveling together for over a year, so by then it had become routine.

Joel did give me my switchblade back on the way home and in the most unlikely manner as well.

_"Stay here for a moment," Joel said as he motioned to the side of the river, making me remember his 'lesson' to me during the beginning of our journey as I watched him cross it._

_ When he was on the other side, I got curious about what he was doing._

_ "Now what?" I shouted over to him, and he gave me an amused look._

_ "Catch!" he shouted and something silver flashed my way. I caught whatever he had thrown to me, knowing that if I missed it would get swept away by the river._

_ Looking down at the object, I recognized it as my switchblade, the blade hidden within the handle. I looked up at him, somewhat irked._

_ "If I would have missed, I would have lost this!" I shouted as I started to cross the river, holding up my switchblade so he could see it._

_ "But you didn't," he said, helping me up out of the river when I got to the other side._

_ I couldn't stay angry at him after that. Opening the blade, I saw it was covered in dried blood. I bent down and placed the blade into the river, brushing the now wet blood off of it._

_ Standing up, I showed Joel the now clean blade._

_ "A clean slate," Joel remarked, and I smiled down at the blade._

_ "A fresh start," I said as I glanced up at him and he smiled, catching the hidden meaning behind my words._

Even now I was sitting on my bed, opening and closing the switchblade while I looked down at it. Glancing around my room, I decided that Joel's "job" definitely had its advantages.

As soon as we got back to Boston, Joel was somehow able to 'convince' certain people to allow us to live in the abandoned house I had been staying in. I had laughed when he told me that, not even asking what he had done. He still hasn't told me yet, but someday I might bring it up to him as one of my "annoying questions".

I slipped the switchblade into a pocket of my pants as I walked out of my room and through the hallway, remembering what Joel had told me a few days ago.

_"The government is trying to make some weapons illegal," Joel had told me one day after we were done eating. _

_I had looked at him with amusement when he said 'government', referring to the small group of people that came from all the quarantine zones and started to call themselves our "government"._

_ Joel and I had just decided to ignore the small group for now, but we keep an eye on them every now and then, since we know from experience how small groups can be underestimated (take the two of us, for example)._

_ "How come?" I had asked with a confused expression on my face. I walked out of the 'dining room' and into what Joel had referred to as a 'living room'._

_ I had so much to learn about life before the pandemic had started that I could have written a book or two on it._

_ "Don't know yet," Joel said, following me into the living room and sitting down in a chair, "Probably thinking of the near future."_

_ "So they think we are going to 'overthrow' them?" I had asked, starting to laugh, and Joel had given me an amused look._

_ "Apparently so," Joel said, shaking his head in amusement._

_ Once I had stopped laughing, Joel had given me a serious look._

_ "You might want to hide that more often," he said as he pointed at my switchblade lying on the ground next to me._

_ "Why? Are they going to make switchblades illegal too?" I had asked jokingly, but at Joel's serious expression, my mood had soured._

_ "But what can this little thing do?" I asked as I opened the blade, pouting somewhat. Joel laughed at my expression._

_ "It can take down an Infected," he answered, and I had stared at him._

_ "Still…" I started but he shook his head, making me stop._

_ "You could just as easily take down a person as well," Joel continued, and even though I knew his words were true, I still didn't like them._

_ "That's called self-defense," I muttered, glaring at the ground._

_ "Or murder," Joel stated, finding amusement in my expression._

_ "Self-defense," I repeated and he just laughed as I glared at him._

_ "I didn't say I'd take it away," Joel said after a moment, "You just might want to keep it hidden."_

So heeding his words, I've tried not to draw attention to my switchblade in public, just in case someone would try and take it away from me and would probably be leaving with a missing limb.

Both of us now have something "illegal" to hide: Joel's 'job' and my switchblade, although it's not confirmed what weapons the 'government' would take away yet.

Slowly but surely, the quarantine zones are becoming more like the pictures I had seen in books; more like neighborhoods and less like dictating death holes, which includes our little house somewhere in the middle, still being in-progress with our "renovations".

Phil had amazingly enough survived the battle, which we figured out when we went to the Fireflies main operations underneath of Boston shortly after we returned. I had taken back what I had said about him not being able to survive two seconds outside of the quarantine zone (I told him that when he was 'watching' me, so it was funny to remember his offended reaction), which resulted in Phil telling us about his first encounter with an Infected.

As soon as the three of us started to laugh, that had started a round of laughs and stories from the others in the Fireflies' base, and I saved my story for last.

I had hoped that Joel would have taken the time to tell us his first encounter, but he didn't, so I am still wondering about it all this time. Knowing him, he will probably either tell me when the time is right, or never tell it at all, although I hope that it's not the latter.

We don't see Tess that often anymore, although Joel has mentioned to me about seeing her once or twice in the past month, which has given me the advantage of teasing him about having feelings for her. Joel got mad when I mentioned that, but his face was too amusing not to laugh.

Fatty hasn't come by to stop either, which isn't that surprising considering that I haven't seen him since we had first gathered the parts for the truck months ago.

Joel had surprised me when he told me that he had sent a letter to his "friend", with a reply coming back about a week later, with Fatty saying that he was willing to meet someplace preferably not "his place, our place, or any place with pipes."

I started laughing when Joel showed it to me, remembering when I had hit Fatty with a pipe, and asked Joel if I could write a letter back.

Joel had looked at me with suspicion, telling me to be nice to him and that we would both write a letter. I had reread my note, which simply said:

_Dear Fatty,_

_I am looking forward to seeing you again, especially since it has been so long. Has your arm healed yet? I hope I didn't hit it too hard._

_Just to inform you, if Joel comes to visit, I am coming with him, and have since learned better ways to injure someone without using a pipe._

_Sincerely,_

_Ellie_

I had started to laugh when I came out of my room, and just as I was about to put the letter in the envelope, Joel had come up and taken it.

He looked fine at first, but I assumed that when he got to the second paragraph he didn't think my letter was so "nice" anymore and threw it in the trash, exiting the room after putting the envelope back on the counter.

Luckily he didn't know that I slipped my letter to Fatty back into the envelope, making sure to hide it behind his. To say that he was irked when two letters came back today was an understatement, although I did enjoy getting a letter back, which said a bunch of curse words with a message that said something about a rematch (it also said something else, but Fatty's handwriting was too sloppy for me to be able to read it).

I had shown the letter to Joel, whose only reply was "This should be interesting."

When I pointed to the part I wasn't able to read, he read it and had an amused look on his face. Joel didn't tell me what it said, instead saying,

"You'll figure it out once we visit."

I had instantly assumed that Joel had already picked out a place for us to meet, and both of us knew the answer: the barn in Ohio (which is now becoming our land in-between).

I still don't know about what happened to Riley; the truth died with David. I might not even find out at all, but I still hold hope that my friend is out there somewhere. Either that, or my brain could finally let me remember, but I doubt that.

I haven't regained any more memories since the tolerance was destroyed, but at least I know that I won't be losing any memories either; which is important considering all the new ones Joel and I will be making as a 'father-daughter family' (we both agreed once I brought the subject up that us traveling together was definitely not a mistake).

I heard the door open and looked over to see Joel. I smiled as I grabbed my backpack, feeling happy to get back into our routine.

"Ready?" he asked, shouldering his backpack.

"Always," I replied as we walked out the door, Joel turning around to lock it before we set out, first to meet with Fatty, and then to who knows where else.

All in all, the once ruined world that the Last of Us have survived was now becoming more like home.

* * *

This is the last chapter of "Survivors" and first I would like to start off with some thanks. First of all, special thanks to _Rich-123 (Guest)_, _Darker Lights_, _Exleader75, AnimeWolfGirl16, NineJulySkies, Legendary Swordsman, _and _LittleSlytherin394_ for your constant reviews and encouragement. You're devotion really helped me to finish in time, as well as kept me going for this fanfiction! Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed or even read this fanfiction! Regarding other fanfictions for "The Last of Us", I am planning on starting another one (hopefully) very soon called "20 Years of Experience". It is essentially going to explain more about Joel's backstory in this fanfiction and more about his time in the early years of the pandemic (as well as the scene where Rosanne asks him to bring Ellie to the Fireflies). I am hoping you will check that out and that the first chapter will be out soon. I am also going to do a series of one-shots (as well as a one-shot that is separate from this series) based on some of the thing that Joel and Ellie encountered from the old world (considering I couldn't fit all of them in this fanfiction before the due date). I was also planning on doing a sequel for this fanfiction on how the country is trying to get back to healing itself, and how Joel and Ellie have to deal with the changes of the old and new world mixing even further. I was wondering if you guys would want me to write that (most likely going to be out sometime after I finish "20 Years of Experience"), and if you had any ideas. Thank you once again for all of your support and encouragement! See you in my next "The Last of Us" fanfiction!

-AnimeWolfGirl9


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